405th AFSB welcomes new leadership team

The 405th Army Field Support Brigade welcomed a new command team and thanked its departing predecessors during a unique combined change of command and responsibility ceremony held July 11 at NCO Field on Daenner Kaserne.

Col. Rodney H. Honeycutt replaced Col. Todd S. Bertulis, who took command of the AFSB in August 2014. Command Sgt. Maj. Mark A. Morgan replaced Command Sgt. Maj. Stanley O. Richards, who assumed responsibility during the same ceremony two years ago.

Distinguished leaders, logisticians and guests from across the region and even higher headquarters stateside joined German allies, Family members, friends, brigade personnel and well-wishers for the morning ceremony.

The outgoing commander played a key role in such major initiatives as the establishment of the European Activity Set in Europe, creating EAS sites in Mannheim, Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria in the process. During Bertulis’ tenure, the AFSB reset more than 700 mine resistant all-terrain vehicles at Leghorn Army Depot, Italy, to meet industrial standards, established a logistics support team to assist U.S. Army Africa and deployed a brigade forward command post to Poland in support of Anakonda ’16. Bertulis, a product of the Chicago suburbs who calls Wood Dale home, will serve as deputy director of logistics at U.S. European Command in Stuttgart during his next assignment.

The outgoing command sergeant major, who served as senior enlisted leader of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command as well as the 405th AFSB during the last quarter of his tenure, spearheaded important quality-of-life initiatives such as the Civilian Wellness and Fitness Program and organized training events reinforcing safety, security and leader development in addition to his role in operational missions. The Phenix City, Alabama, native will serve as logistics sergeant major at U.S. Army Africa headquarters in Vicenza, Italy, during his next assignment.

Maj. Gen. Kevin G. O’Connell, commanding general of Army Sustainment Command — the AFSB’s higher headquarters — presided over the ceremony. The Clinton, Maryland, native thanked guests Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the U.S. Army Europe commanding general, and Maj. Gen. Duane Gamble, the 21st TSC commanding general, for their support of 405th personnel and mission requirements.

The 405th AFSB command team, O’Connell said, “has done amazing things for the past two years. We have seven of these AFSBs across the globe,” he noted, “but none have done things like the 405th.” The organization “synchronized all the acquisition, logistics, technology efforts across the Army materiel enterprise, which has enabled the Army Service Component Command — USAREUR — and the geographic combat commanders to operate with the full range of military options. The 405th has enabled USAREUR and the European Command to protect our nation and its vital strategic interests by preventing conflict, maintaining forward presence, building partnerships, assuring allies, deterring adversaries and conducting operations throughout Europe.

“They’ve greatly enhanced USAREUR’s readiness posture,” O’Connell added, citing such accomplishments as the expansion of the Army Prepositioned Stocks program, establishment of vital training facilities and support to rotational forces as well as organizations across the region.
He also noted 405th efforts extended beyond the continent, including support of forces employed by “three separate combatant commanders.”

Bertulis followed O’Connell to the podium, thanking key leaders as well as partner organizations across the region, praising the Soldiers and Civilians he led during his tenure, and welcoming his successor.
“The units and personnel arrayed before you represent the many who get after the daily workload to ensure the delivery of readiness to our maneuver brigades, storing and providing materiel for our Army and supporting the communities throughout Europe,” he said. Noting several critical partnerships and accomplishments, including “Anakonda ’16 and the first deployment of the forward command post in over seven years,” Bertulis emphasized the scale and variety of efforts across the breadth of the command. “What all of you do every day is tremendous,” he said, “and important.”

Richards praised his teammates during his remarks, emphasizing the outstanding contributions of the Civilians who comprise the vast majority of the brigade’s work force and the small but energetic contingent of noncommissioned officers who “made up in quality” what they “gave up in numbers.”

“From the growth of the European Activity Set here in Germany and out east to the renaming and refocusing of our Italy battalion to leaning forward in the creation of a new 405th AFS battalion, we’ve truly been through a dynamic time and have accomplished much,” he said. “So yes, like everyone else in the Army, we were busy these past two years. But it’s been a learning and wonderful experience. I’m truly thankful to have been a part of it.”

Honeycutt, the ceremony’s final speaker, pledged to keep his remarks brief and followed through on the commitment. The incoming commander thanked his senior leaders, predecessors and event cadre for their support in a concise speech sprinkled with humor and direct address.

“Team 405th, you are an amazing organization that has accomplished tremendous feats of sustainment,” the Asheville, North Carolina, native said. “I have been watching for the past year and was always amazed at your dedication to mission accomplishment. Command Sgt. Maj. Morgan and I are excited to be joining your team.”

The new mission won’t impact the incoming commander’s commute. A distinguished logistician who headed major support and sustainment organizations from Korea and Hawaii to Fort Bragg to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, Honeycutt served as chief of support operations with the 21st TSC at nearby Panzer Kaserne until assuming command. A scholar-Soldier who holds an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and master’s degrees in strategic studies as well as logistics, Honeycutt taught military science at university level.

The incoming command sergeant major, a combat-tested expeditionary leader who served during nine cumulative Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom deployments between 2001 and 2009, spent much of his remarkable career with Ranger regiments. The Beaumont, Texas, native served most recently as command sergeant major of the 25th Special Troops Battalion in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

The AFSB serves as a conduit between Army Materiel Command headquarters and organizations across the region, providing and coordinating tactical, operational and strategic sustainment to ensure theater readiness and enable commanders to conduct the full range of military missions in support of USAREUR and U.S. Army Africa. Among other critical strategic-level missions, the AFSB manages and maintains APS for use in expeditionary operations. The brigade also provides Installation Management Command-Europe garrisons and personnel valuable supply, maintenance, transportation and life support.