The 21st Theater Sustainment Command (21st TSC) provides

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

sustainment throughout

EUCOM The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territorie ...

and

AFRICOM The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM, U.S. AFRICOM, and AFRICOM), is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U ...

Areas of Responsibility in support of USAREUR and 7th Army. On order, deploys to support theater opening, distribution, and Reception, Staging, Onward Movement & enable Integration (RSO&I) functions. Be prepared to support Joint and Coalition forces.

History

The heritage of 21st Theater Sustainment Command began on 23 June 1965 with the activation of the 1st Support Brigade. The 21st TSC originated as a maintenance support headquarters under Seventh Army Support Command, the brigade's first home was Taylor Barracks, Mannheim, Germany. After the United States military withdrawal from France in 1967 and the organization of the U.S. Theater Army Support Command, Europe, informally known as TASCOM, the brigade became the rear-area counterpart of the newly formed corps support commands. Assigned to TASCOM in 1969, 1st Support Brigade was responsible for Prepositioning of Materiel Configured to Unit Sets (

POMCUS POMCUS (Prepositioning Of Materiel Configured in Unit Sets) was a system that kept large amounts of pre-positioned U.S. military equipment in West Germany during the Cold War. In the event of war with the Soviets, American soldiers could be flown ...

) and provided combat service support for U.S. units in the area west of the Rhein River. In 1974, TASCOM was merged with Headquarters,

United States Army Europe United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

, and the missions of 1st Support Brigade were expanded to include base operations support for eight military communities as well as the management of regional area support. The brigade was upgraded to a general officer command and the headquarters moved to Kleber Kaserne, Kaiserslautern, Germany. By mid-1976 the 1st Support Brigade's personnel strength was approximately 16,000 – the largest brigade in the U.S. Army. Consequently, the Department of the Army approved the elevation of the commander's position to major general and on 19 August 1976 the brigade was re-designated 21st Support Command. The command came to include the 47th Area Support Group with a major depot located at

RAF Burtonwood Royal Air Force Burtonwood (or RAF Burtonwood) is a former Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces base that was located in Burtonwood, Northwest of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The base was opened in 1940 in response to World Wa ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, stockpiling POMCUS equipment. Other units included

Combat Equipment Group Europe Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

29th Area Support Group 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, and 60th Ordnance Group. During the next several years, important missions and units were assigned to the 21st and, in June 1981, the President of the United States elevated the commander's position to lieutenant general, reflecting the organization's status as a Theater Army Area Command. Accordingly, on 18 October 1988, 21st Support Command was officially re-designated the 21st Theater Army Area Command. After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, U.S. forces in Europe began a reduction in personnel to accompany the reduced threat. Authorizations for both military and civilian positions were decreased substantially and, in 1993, the grade of the 21st TAACOM commander was returned to major general. On 18 October 2000 the 21st TAACOM structure was replaced by the Army and U.S. Army Europe and transformed into the 21st Theater Sustainment Command (TSC). In 2006, the 21st TSC HQ further changed by absorbing some functions of some of its former units, such as the 200th MMC (Material Management, formerly the US Army Material Command, Europe,(MATCOM) located in Zweibruecken, and 1st TMCA (Transportation Movement Control) because these units deactivated. This restructuring was needed to meet the needs of the Army and the nation in the 21st century, by becoming a deploy able force. This change made the 21st the Army's largest forward deployed unit and a major forward presence, in theater logistics organization in support of Central Region, Europe. Throughout this evolution the 21st has retained the lineage and honors, distinguishing flag (colors), and distinctive unit badge and shoulder sleeve insignia of the "FIRST IN SUPPORT!"

Current Structure

* 21st Theater Sustainment Command, in Kaiserslautern ** 1st Spt Bde crest

Special Troops Battalion A special troops battalion (STB) is an organic unit of a modular brigade, division (or equivalent), corps or higher echelon United States Army organization. It may comprise companies from different branches of the army, but typically has a Headquar ...

, in Kaiserslautern ** 7 Civil Support Cmd SSI

7th Mission Support Command, in Kaiserslautern *** 361st Civil Affairs Brigade, in Kaiserslautern **** 457th Civil Affairs Battalion, in Grafenwöhr **** Transportation Battalion (Movement Control) - Headquarters & Headquarters Company, in Kaiserslautern **** 406th Human Resources Company, in Kaiserslautern **** 446th Human Resources Company, in Kaiserslautern **** 221st Public Affairs Detachment, in Kaiserslautern **** 589th Engineer Detachment, in Kaiserslautern **** 773rd Civil Support Team, in Kaiserslautern *** 7th Intermediate Level Education Detachment, in Grafenwöhr *** 209th Digital Liaison Detachment, in Wiesbaden *** 2500th Digital Liaison Detachment, in Vicenza, Italy *** Medical Support Unit - Europe, in Kaiserslautern **

16th Sustainment Brigade, in Baumholder ** 18th Military Police Brigade SSI

18th Military Police Brigade The 18th Military Police Brigade is a military police brigade of the United States Army based in Vilseck, Germany, with subordinate battalions and companies stationed throughout Germany. It provides law enforcement and force protection duties to ...

, in Grafenwoehr ** 30th Medical Brigade, in Sembach *** 212th Combat Support Hospital, in Kaiserslautern *** 421st Medical Battalion (Multifunctional), in Baumholder ** 405SptBdeSSI

405th Army Field Support Brigade The 405th Army Field Support Brigade (405th AFSB) is stationed at Kaiserslautern, Germany. 405th AFSB is under operational control ( OPCON) of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command (21st TSC), a command of U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) ...

, in Kaiserslautern *** Base Support Operations Maintenance Division, in Grafenwöhr (with Teams in Ansbach, Baumholder, Garmisch, Grafenwöhr, Hohenfels, Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart, Vilseck and Wiesbaden) *** Base Support Operations Transport Division, in Kaiserslautern *** Logistics Readiness Center Baumholder *** Logistics Readiness Center Bavaria, in Grafenwöhr (Parts in Garmisch, Hohenfels and Vilseck) *** Logistics Readiness Center Rheinland-Pfalz, in Kaiserslautern (Parts in Sembach) *** Logistics Readiness Center Stuttgart *** Army Oil Analysis Program Europe, in Kaiserslautern *** Army Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment Activity, in Kaiserslautern *** Army Garrison Ansbach Logistics Readiness Center *** Army Garrison Vicenza Logistics Readiness Center *** Army Garrison Wiesbaden Logistics Readiness Center *** Army Garrison Benelux Logistics ** 409SptBdeSSI

409th Contracting Support Brigade, in Kaiserslautern *** 903rd Contracting Battalion, in Kaiserslautern *** 928th Contracting Battalion, in Grafenwöhr *** Theater Contracting Center, in Kaiserslautern *** Regional Contracting Office - Benelux , in Brussels, Belgium *** Regional Contracting Office Stuttgart, in Stuttgart *** Regional Contracting Office Stuttgart, in Wiesbaden ** 1st Human Resources Sustainment Center, in Kaiserslautern ** 266_Fin_Cmd_SSI

266th Financial Management Support Center, in Kaiserslautern ** Theater Logistics Support Center - Europe, in Kaiserslautern *** Sustainment Task Force 16, at Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport ( RoAF_57th_Air_Base),_Romania_(Base_also_houses_the_US_Marine_Corps.html" "title="Romania.html" ;"title="RoAF 57th Air Base), Romania">RoAF 57th Air Base), Romania (Base also houses the US Marine Corps">Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

History

Current Structure

Former notable members

References

External links