Special Troops Battalion
Established in March 1943 as the 51st MP Company in Oran, North Africa, the unit participated in WWII in the ITALY campaign serving in Naples, Rome and theNorth Apennines. The unit has been redesignated as the 52nd MP Company, Law Enforcement Activity, United States Army Garrison (USAG) and Company A, USAG. Company A, Special Troops Battalion is the current designation. It currently performs law enforcement mission and fall under the U.S. Army Medical Command and wear the Health Services Command patch.
The mission of Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion: conduct administrative and logistical operations in support of the headquarters company; conduct basic soldier training operations in support of US Army Garrison directorates; provide administrative, billeting, UCMJ and General Health and Welfare Support to HQ, 5th United States Army.
The company is composed of approximately 160 officers, NCOs, and soldiers in the company headquarters section and 10 separate directorates. Additionally, the company has 150 officers, NCOs and soldiers for which it is responsible for providing administrative, training, UCMJ support, and soldier care for in 5th Army Headquarters.
Below is a listing of the various directorates where Headquarters Company soldiers work and a brief description of the jobs that they do every day.
TRIAL DEFENSE SERVICES (TDS): this section is composed of people that provide soldiers with legal representation in court cases. They are composed of JAG lawyers and legal clerks and assistants.
HEALTH SCIENCE VISUAL INFORMATION (HSVI): this section is responsible for producing video taping of training for the military medical community. Also, they are responsible for Combat Camera documentation to the medical community in deployed environments.
STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE (SJA): is composed of all the various legal services in the Army. They handle anything from reviewing legal contracts for the installation, to prosecution of courts martial of soldiers.
READINESS AND LOGISTICS BUSINESS CENTER (RLBC): handles all the G-2, G-3, and G-4 aspects of Garrison.
CHAPLAIN SECTION: all the chaplains on Ft. Sam Houston are consolidated into one section. Their mission encompasses AMEDD Center and School as well as manning of all the unit chaplain positions on the post and the post chapels on Ft. Sam Houston and Dodd Field.
MILITARY HONORS: is responsible for conducting military honors ceremonies at funerals of military members, retired military members, and veterans. Also, they are responsible for providing color guard support for functions around the state and in the local community and Ft. Sam Houston. The section is responsible for coverage of 58 counties in Texas.
HUMAN RESOURCE BUSINESS CENTER: is responsible for maintaining officer and enlisted records, making personnel assignments, and ensuring all required data for records is accurate and entered accurately, as well as handling all soldier finance issues.
POST RETENTION OFFICE: responsible for administering all aspects of reenlistment of enlisted personnel on Ft. Sam Houston. They have oversight of all unit reenlistment offices in every unit on Ft. Sam Houston.
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES ARMY GARRISON: all of the people that work for the Garrison Commander are assigned to Headquarters Company. They support the Garrison Commander with administrative and logistical support, maintain the command offices, and assist the Commander so that he can do his job.
In a nutshell, Headquarters Company supports all the soldiers that work for these various entities so that they can continue running the post every day at Ft. Sam Houston. The company supports them so that each of them can better serve the post and every soldier and family member on it.
