Photo By Master Sgt. Gary Witte | Brig. Gen. Michael J. Terry, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) commander,...... read more read more
by Sgt. Gary Witte
210th MPAD
CAMP SPEICHER, Iraq -- Brig. Gen. Michael J. Terry is not one to sit at a desk waiting for information to come to him.
The commander of 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) has spent less than half of his time at Logistical Support Area Anaconda since arriving in Iraq on Aug. 28; instead, he circulated among his seven subordinate brigades throughout the country, members of his staff said.
"I feel a commander needs to be out where his Soldiers are," Terry said after a stopover at Combat Operating Base Speicher. "I intend, as much as possible, to be out where our Soldiers are at on this battlefield."
While at COB Speicher on Sept. 13, he met with leaders of the 143rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and the outgoing 561st Corps Support Battalion.
Terry praised the departing support unit, particularly noting their work in force protection initiatives to protect convoys. He asked detailed questions throughout, occasionally stressing some of his key concerns.
For instance, the general said when active duty units are mixed with national guard and reserve units under one command, it is important to treat everyone equally.
Terry said some reservists might think they are being treated as second-class citizens," he told the group. "I won't tolerate it. We are all active duty now."
This is not Terry's first time in Iraq. He served as commander for the 64th Corps Support Group, 13th Corps Support Command, when it was deployed for the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom in support of the 4th Infantry Division.
His headquarters was COB Speicher then, and he noted many changes since he was there last.
"The improvements are immense, and that's the way it needs to be," Terry said. "Every rotation has improved the foxhole, improved the fighting position. And we're going to do the same thing."
He is also familiar with difficult assignments. Last year, he served as commander of the Joint Logistics Command under Joint Task Force-Katrina, helping bring relief to the storm-damaged coastal states.
Terry said the 13th SC(E)'s mission, which includes service support as well as training Iraqi logistics forces to operate independently, will be carried out well by its Soldiers.
"I believe in them," he said. "I trust them. I know they will execute their mission to the best of their ability and that's all I expect of them."
The 13th SC(E) is the senior logistics command in Iraq and conducts operations throughout the country. The former 13th COSCOM, it restructured and redesignated into its current formation in February, and will play a key role in redesigning the logistics battlefield in Iraq to better support the Army's newely transformed combat units.
Terry, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from the University of Scranton in 1979, according to his military biography. He was commissioned through Army ROTC and began his career as a supply officer for the 25th Infantry Division the same year.
He has served in various leadership positions, including chief of the Emergency Supply Operations Center at the Defense Logistics Agency in Philadelphia.
During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Terry worked as logistics operations officer for United States Central Command in Saudia Arabia.
In 1993, he became support operations officer for 703rd Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. About two years later, he became executive officer, Division Support Command, 1st Infantry Division, and the next year took command of Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
In July 1999, Terry became chief of the Logistics Operations Division, and later served as deputy director, Logistics and Security Assistance Directorate (J-4), United States European Command, Germany.
After returning from OIF, he became the assistant division commander (Support), for 7th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, Colo. In 2004, he went to the Pentagon, where he worked as director of plans, Operations and Readiness, Office of the Deputy
Chief of Staff.
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2006 08:48 |
| Story ID: | 7733 |
| Location: | TIKRIT, IQ |
| Web Views: | 154 |
| Downloads: | 38 |
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