Support the Castle: A Forward Support Company in Action
Abstract
In 2007, the United States Army Reserve completed its transformation to modularity. The impact on the Engineer Regiment was immediate. Companies, detachments, platoons, and even squads were now organized to serve as elements of a tailored force package, designed to complete a specific mission or task, rather than deploy with an organic engineer battalion. The direct impact on the engineer battalion headquarters was also instantaneous, eliminating the headquarters support company with its 200 or more Soldiers, and developing two separate support companies that together formed the battalion headquarters element. The battalion headquarters became a headquarters and headquarters company (HHC), designed to support the staff sections, and a forward support company (FSC), intended to conduct the sustainment functions needed to sustain an engineer battalion. In many battalion headquarters, the HHC quickly came into its own and began serving as the staff company, but the best employment of the FSC proved more elusive, and it has often been underutilized. It is the intent of this article to provide information on how an FSC is designed to work for an engineer battalion and how it worked for the 844th Engineer Battalion during the unit s recent deployment to Baghdad, Iraq, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA560229
Entities
People
- David L. Brewer
Organizations
- United States Army Engineer School