Fort Stewart PAO and Lewis Levine, Senior Correspondent.
On March 11, Major General Charles D. Costanza, Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division and Fort Stewart, was at Hunter Army Airfield for the deployment of roughly 130 soldiers from the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade.
Costanza said the soldiers will be supporting the combat brigade that made up the 3,800 soldiers previously deployed. He said they were given a six-month deployment date, but the ultimate date they will return depends on what happens with the Ukraine/Russia conflict. For some soldiers, it is their first deployment, but Costanza said they have senior non-commissioned officers also that have been deployed multiple times.
Specialist Kang Park said it was his first deployment. The generator mechanic said he was excited to support his battle buddies and NATO allies. He admitted he was a bit nervous but said he was ready to go. “I’ve been prepared for this,” he said. “I am ready and feeling confident.”
Sgt. Kameron Hart, who works on refrigeration units, has been deployed to Europe before and said he is ready to support his fellow soldiers and that he has plenty of family supporting his mission as well. “I can lean on them,” he said about his family.
He said the morale of the Sustainment Brigade is high right now. Also present for the deployment was U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, who said it was important to show that the soldiers have the support of the U.S.
“It is important that these brave men and women know that our country supports them,” Carter said. “This is bipartisan support. We are all Americans, and we all support our troops.”
He said he felt it was important to see the troops off in person to show his support and told them all to stay safe.
“I wanted to personally ask them to please be careful,” he said. “We want them to come back safely.”
Carter called Russian President Vladimir Putin a thug and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a brave man. He also praised the strength and courage of the people of Ukraine.
He said he was proud of how NATO has come together to denounce Putin’s “unprovoked attack on Ukraine” and that it was important that NATO and the U.S. continue their support of Ukraine. He said that he voted in favor of the $13.6 billion in funding to support Ukraine.
“It had bipartisan support, and it is very important,” Carter said.
He said some of the money was for humanitarian relief and the other half for military aide.
Carter said he still has several opposing views about the Biden administration.
“But this is where we are at and where we find ourselves,” he said. “Now Ukraine needs us, and we should all be united as Americans behind them.”
He said he doesn’t want to see any U.S. troops in Ukraine at this time but added that what happens in the future depends on Putin. He did say he would like to revisit the possibility of getting MIG-29 jets to Ukraine.
Others return home
While many Fort Stewart soldiers are deploying, others are still returning to their families and communities. Approximately 350 soldiers from the 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade returned home March 7, along with their command team and brigade colors.
This marks the completion of a nine-month mission to numerous locations across the U.S. Army Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. The 3rd DSB deployed from Fort Stewart in June 2021 and took on the lead logistic role in support of Operation Spartan Shield, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Freedom Sentinel and Operation Allies Refuge. This marked the seventh time the 3rd DSB has deployed in the last decade, providing sustainment to the force.
During deployment, the 3rd DSB provided operational and tactical level sustainment support to the CENTCOM area of responsibility and the 1st Theater Sustainment Command. The brigade was responsible for providing command and control to down trace active and reserve component logistic units in the area of operations, coordinating with sister services and multinational partners for logistic support to CENTCOM forces. The brigade element planned, integrated and executed sustainment operations, including the nation’s single largest humanitarian airlift supporting Afghanistan retrograde, two quarterly ammunition vessel shipments, and the first ever U.S. military convoy from one side of Saudi Arabia to the other and into Kuwait.
Before returning home, they transferred responsibility to the 36th Sustainment Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, on March 4, 2022.
Patty Leon contributed to this report.