Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Bryant Maude | Lt. Col. Robert Brem (left), a Salisbury, Md., native, and the commander of the...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Bryant Maude
1st Sustainment Brigade
CAMP TAJI, Iraq - At 18, Lt. Col. Robert Brem almost became a Marine but the Army was quicker with their 4-year scholarship offer; beating out the Navy by a week. His desire was to study engineering at Lafayette College in eastern Pennsylvania so when the Army offered their scholarship he took it. As a result of this decision, 22 years later, he is now the commander of the Special Troops Battalion, 1st Sustainment Brigade, currently deployed in Iraq.
Brem was notified of his new position as the STB Commander in the middle of December 2006, while traveling on temporary duty in Hawaii. "I checked my army knowledge online mail and saw I had a request for offer to be in Kansas, by Feb. 1, 2008, to take command of the Battalion," recalled Brem. Apparently, two other lieutenant colonels had declined the position and he was next on the list. He accepted the job knowing that he still had several more days before he could return to Korea where he had been assigned for the past five and a half years. "I ended up clearing during the holidays and arrived in Kansas the last week of January 2007."
Korea has been good to Brem. On his first assignment there he met a young lady on a blind date named Ok Kyong. He was assigned in Uijongbu at the time and she worked in the Commissary bakery on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. He recalls their first meeting with fondness. "We went on a double date and afterward didn't see or attempt to contact each other for a few months. In fact, OK was mad because she had been set up with a bald man [yes, I was already bald, this is not just a haircut] and she really didn't care for me after that first date." Several months later he was reassigned to Seoul and on a whim stopped by her work and asked her out. "I walked with her from work to catch the city bus that day and we've been together ever since. On Feb. 22, 2008, they celebrated 16 years of marriage.
The mission of the STB is large and diverse. In addition to managing the Brigade's headquarters personnel and running a battalion aid station through their highly capable Headquarters Company and providing satellite based network communications for the Brigade by way of their superior Signal Company, they also have a Financial Management Company and Human Resources Company. They are newly formed modular organizations that support more than 80,000 Soldiers and civilian contractors throughout Multi-National Division-Baghdad and Multi-National Division-Central.
The 24th Financial Management Company makes 18 million dollars in contract and vendor payments weekly and disburses 10.5 million dollars to paying agents weekly for a total of 3.5 billion dollars disbursed so far in 2008 alone. This is as much cash as some nations produce in gross domestic product in a year.
Responsible to provide postal services, casualty liaison, and in-transit passenger accountability support, the 510th Human Resources Company has also had a number of successes. Of particular note, they managed to cut down the transit time for mail coming from the states to only seven days (from 10 to 14 days) by improving their mail distribution processes.
Brem believes his biggest challenge and greatest impact in this deployment has been integrating and employing Financial Management and Human Resources forces into his organization. This is the first time these forces have been employed in modular formations under sustainment brigades. "Not only are they new missions technically, but there are also organizational and cultural differences among the adjutant general branch, finance branch and logisticians. So, understanding, adapting to, and assimilating these new missions, Soldiers, and units were the biggest challenge," he stated. In addition to that, his team developed from scratch, the necessary staff procedures and oversight mechanisms to effectively plan for and employ these forces.
Brem operates mainly off of intent. As much as possible he tries to steer away from being directive and authoritarian. He is passionate about the mission and developing an organization that has high standards and produces quality outcomes. "I like to be able to be a cheerleader for my subordinate units and Soldiers," states Brem.
Brem is very proud that his Soldiers have accomplished with one battalion what three battalions did previously with the largest and most important FM / HR missions of any other sustainment brigade in Iraq, Kuwait, or Afghanistan. "And not only did we not miss a beat but, we significantly improved operations and customer support across the board," concluded Brem.
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2008 09:34 |
| Story ID: | 22812 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 313 |
| Downloads: | 246 |
This work, Steadfast and Strong, by SFC Bryant Maude, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
