Sustainment Brigade 4th Infantry Division (Mech)
Division Support Command (DISCOM)
As of December 2005, the 4th Infantry Division's Sustainment Brigade was deployed to Camp Liberty, located Northeast of Baghdad International Airport, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On order, 4th Infantry Sustainment Brigade [formerly the Division Support Command] deploys and provides responsive combat & health service support to the 4th Infantry Division.
Theater distribution is a critical and essential element of multifunctional support that includes air, land, and sea operations. As the Army transitions from a supply-based to a distribution-based logistics system, theater distribution focuses on an end-to-end capability to deliver materiel readiness from source of supply to point of use. The cornerstone of successful theater distribution is the merging of materiel management functions with movement management functions under a theater distribution brigade. This multifunctional brigade will have the mission, responsibility, and authority to conduct theater distribution. It will be assigned functional and multifunctional battalions that will perform transportation, supply, and services missions. Distribution-based logistics will maximize throughput from the theater hub to the user level, bypassing intermediate echelons whenever possible.
The sustainment brigade (UEx) is a multifunctional CSS organization that combines functions that formerly resided in the division support command (DISCOM) and COSCOM. Its primary mission is to plan, coordinate, synchronize, monitor, and control CSS in the UEx area of operations. The sustainment brigade (UEx) commander will serve as the senior logistics commander in the UEx.
The brigade is a modular, tailorable organization comprised of both functional and multifunctional subordinate CSS units. It will be configured for, distribute to, and retrograde from maneuver BCTs and other support brigades assigned or attached to the UEx. The sustainment brigade (UEx) will be capable (with augmentation) of managing logistics operations in support of joint or multinational operations and forces. With augmentation, it also could provide joint logistics command and control for a joint force commander.
The 4th Infantry Division Support Command (DISCOM) saw its origin in April 1957 as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company and Material Management Control, 4th Infantry Division. The DISCOM and its subordinate units were undergoing redesign as new technologies and force structures were introduced to meet the needs of the Army's Force XXI Division.
While the DISCOM proper was relatively young, the units that comprised the DISCOM had been formed, each with a rich and distinct history with the Ironhorse Division. These units included the 4th Supply Trains (1917) known as the 4th Forward Support Battalion, the 64th Quartermaster Battalion (1942) or the 64th FSB (Fort Carson, CO) the 5th Sanitary Trains (1917) now known as the 204th FSB, the 704th Ordinance Light Maintenance Company (1943) known as the 704th Division Support Battalion; and finally the youngest member of the DISCOM; the 404th Aviation Support Battalion (1996).
Since the DISCOM's inception in 1957, it had participated in eleven Vietnam campaigns, earning three campaign streamers. Collectively the DISCOM units had served in three wars and earned more than twenty campaign streamers.
In 2001 soldiers from the Division Support Command supported two NTC rotations, including the Division Capstone Exercise I, and the DCX II Division Warfighter Exercise. The performance of the "Wranglers" had been instrumental to the Army leadership embracing the Force XXI technology. With most of the DISCOM's force modernization and fielding complete, its units were trained and ready to deploy world-wide in support of the 4th ID's Division Ready Brigade missions.
In 2003 Soldiers from the Sustainment Brigade deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sustainment Brigade was responsible for managing every aspect of logistics within Task Force Ironhorse. Typically limited to 15,000 Soldiers, Task Force Ironhorse during Operation Iraqi Freedom exceeded over 27,000 Soldiers. The Sustainment Brigade provided support to the division task force as it expanded to nine brigades and covered an area of operations approximately eight times the doctrinal size of an AOE division. The area of responsibility (AOR) was roughly equivalent to that of the state of West Virginia.
As of December 2004, the Sustainment Brigade was comprised of the Special Troops Battalion. With the Sustainment Brigade’s force modernization and fielding ongoing, it continues to provide support to the Army’s most lethal Division.
The distinctive unit insignia was approved on 21 June 2005. It was amended to change the symbolism on 30 June 2005. It is a gold color metal and enamel device 1 3/16 inches (3.02 cm) in height overall consisting of a buff disc encircled by a bamboo annulet of eleven segments superimposed by three black sword silhouettes, one palewise, the other two saltirewise supporting an eight pointed star bearing a green stylized ivy leaf. Attached below a red scroll inscribed “HEM PERFICITE” in gold. Gold is emblematic of excellence and achievement. The bamboo ring with eleven sections represents the eleven campaigns the unit earned in Vietnam. Bamboo also alludes to the Southwest Asia theater of operation. The three swords highlight combat readiness and commemorate the unit’s three decorations for Vietnam service. The three swords also represent the transportation, supply and service logistic missions. The star burst with the major compass points within the circle of bamboo calls to mind a compass rose and the worldwide mission of rapid deployment of logistic support and service. The ivy leaf recalls the unit’s history with the 4th Infantry Division. The motto translates to “Just Get It Done.”
The 4th Infantry Division’s Support Brigade held a casing ceremony for the brigade and Support Battalion colors during retreat at Cameron Field on 08 September 2005. The event signified the unit’s deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 470 Soldiers of the Support Brigade were the first personnel from the division to deploy to Iraq. They left in late September 2005. The brigade made two stops along the way to Camp Taji, one at Camp Beuhring, Kuwait, and the other at Camp Anaconda, Iraq. Soldiers trained for two weeks at Camp Beuhring. The training went from basic firing skills like confirming their zero to more quick individual training at the close-quarters marksmanship course and reacting to a suspicious vehicle at an entry control point. The Soldiers’ training reached its peak with live-fire convoy exercises, where Soldiers moved vehicles into defensive and offensive positions, moved disabled vehicles and requested medical evacuations for injured personnel.
On Oct. 15, 2005, the 4th Infantry Division’s Sustainment Brigade replaced the 46th Corps Support Group from Fort Bragg, NC, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, to provide logistical support throughout the Baghdad area. The brigade commander and primary staff symbolized the completion of their transfer of authority by presenting the commander and primary staff of the 46th CSG brigade coins for their outstanding service. The nearly 350 4th Infantry Division troops were joined by three additional battalions of active-duty, National Guard and Reserve Soldiers once in theater, increasing the Support Brigade’s total strength to approximately 4,000 Soldiers.
