DSC History:
On Oct. 2, 1998, Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) -- the
predecessor of Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) -- established the Deployment Support Command (DSC) at Fort Eustis, Va., and MTMC's Eastern and Western area commands were consolidated into the DSC. Nearly two years later, on Sept. 30, 1999, MTMC closed its military ocean
terminals at Bayonne
and Oakland. During 2001, MTMC reorganized into a single operating headquarters,
split-based in Alexandria and Fort Eustis. SDDC, especially MG Charles W. Fletcher, Jr., SDDC/CG, 24 Aug 04 2004-28 Aug 2006 made the creation of a USAR DSC supporting SDDC operations a major priority and MG Kathleen M. Gainey, SDDC/CG, 6 Oct 06-12 May 08, saw the concept reach initial fruition with the
2 February 2008 activation. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., DSC was established in March 2008, and gained operational control of 53 Army Reserve units in October 2008. In September 2009, it gained command and control of four more transportation units consisting of more than 90 Soldiers. And on Dec. 31, 2009, DSC gained command and control of the U.S. Transportation Command’s Army Reserve Element, located at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., which consists of 59 Soldiers. Additionally, by the close of 2012, DSC will
gain command and control of nine more transportation units consisting of more than 320 Soldiers. The DSC headquarters staff includes more than 120 Reserve officers, NCOs, Soldiers and civilians. The command has a total strength of more than 2,700 Soldiers assigned to subordinate units located across 23 states. The Deployment Support Command is comprised of four transportation brigades, 12 Deployment and Distribution Support Battalions, and the Army’s sole rail battalion. Units aligned under DSC include:
1179th Transportation Brigade – located in Fort Hamilton, N.Y., consists of four battalions and 16 units;
1189th Transportation Brigade – located in North Charleston, S.C., consists of three battalions and 15 units;
1190th Transportation Brigade – located in Baton Rouge, La., consists of three battalions and 16 units;
1394th Transportation Brigade – located at Camp Pendleton, Calif., consists of two battalions and nine units;
757th Transportation (Rail) Battalion – located in Milwaukee, Wis., consists of four units. DSC HISTORY
The original Deployment Support Command -- established at Fort Eustis, Va., Oct. 1, 1998 -- was an active component unit assigned to the Military Traffic Management Command; the predecessor to SDDC. The new Reserve command was formed by consolidating the mission, functions and geographic area of responsibility of MTMC’s former Eastern and Western Area Commands, headquartered at Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne, N.J., and Oakland Army Base, Calif., respectively. In 2001, MTMC reorganized into a single operational headquarters split-based at Alexandria, Va., and Fort Eustis. MTMC concurrently stood up its Operations Center at Fort Eustis and deactivated the Deployment Support Command on Nov. 7, 2001. According to planners involved with the development of today’s Deployment Support Command, the genesis for the command can be found in an Oct. 7, 2005, memorandum from the then-U.S. Transportation Command commander Gen. Norton A. Schwartz to Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Richard Cody. In that memo, Schwartz reportedly defined an objective for the “establishment of a Functional Readiness Command within SDDC to perform training and
readiness oversight.”
From suppporting a preposition afloat mission at MOTCO, to port operations in Kuwait, to a JLOTS exericse in Morroco, today’s DSC is fully engaged supporting the SDDC mission around the world.
