3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team Assumes ABCT Authority in Kuwait

Photo By Sgt. Liane Hatch | Col. Michael J. Simmering, commander of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, addresses guests at a transfer of authority ceremony at Camp Buehring, Kuwait on March 23, 2019. Simmering assumed authority for the brigade combat team mission within Task Force Spartan, commanded by the Minnesota National Guard's 34th Infantry Division, in support of Operation Spartan Shield. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Liane Hatch)  

KUWAIT

03.23.2019

Story by Sgt. Liane Hatch 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – With the unfurling of brigade colors during a ceremony at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Col. Michael J. Simmering, commander of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, assumed authority for the ongoing Brigade Combat Team mission within Task Force Spartan.

Task Force Spartan is a multi-component organization, maintaining a U.S. military posture in the region in support of Operation Spartan Shield. It is currently commanded by the Minnesota National Guard’s 34th Infantry Division, under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Benjamin Corell.

The Iron Brigade assumed authority as the Mississippi National Guard’s 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team relinquished it in a transfer of authority ceremony. Col. Robert D. (Doug) Ferguson first assumed authority in July 2018.

In a word to the outgoing and incoming commands, and the Soldiers belonging to each, Corell thanked the Dixie Thunder brigade for a job well done, and implored the Iron Soldiers to maintain military readiness as the largest, most flexible, and most lethal component of Task Force Spartan.

“We all understand that to be an effective deterrent to our adversaries, we must maintain our readiness and our ability to fight tonight in the event of any contingency operation in this region,” he said. “The role of the brigade combat team within Task Force Spartan is to serve as the main effort in multinational exercises and operations, and to conduct subject matter expert and key leader engagements. Additionally, you are the decisive force should we be called upon to react in any regional emergency, so you must remain ready at all times.”

Corell professed his confidence in Simmering and the Iron Brigade to continue to execute the brigade combat team mission with excellence.

Simmering also shared, expressing his gratitude for all of the various units and components that facilitated the Iron Brigade’s movement to Camp Buehring, and promising mission readiness to the 34th ID, and cooperation and support to the partnering units of the Kuwaiti Land Forces.

“Moving forward, our mission as a brigade revolves around four key areas,” Simmering said: to help Task Force Spartan reset the theater and destroy the forces that would endanger our troops and loved ones, to sustain theater readiness to conduct unified land operations, to deter others who might do us harm, and to support our partners in making the region safer.

“The Soldiers in the Iron Brigade never have, and never will let any one of you down as we move forward together to accomplish this mission,” he said.

• Date Taken: 03.23.2019
• Date Posted: 03.23.2019 07:34
• Story ID: 315446
• Location: KW