FORT LEE, Va. - On a humid spring day, the 530th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion cased its colors during an inactivation ceremony on Seay Field, Fort Lee, Va., May 31.
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Austin W. Elliott and Battalion Senior Enlisted Adviser Sgt. Maj. James Jenkins III marched onto the parade field in ceremonial tradition to pass the colors to the 82nd Sustainment Brigade Commander Col. Mark D. Collins, who then returned them to Jenkins to be cased.
Collins, who served as the ceremony’s official party, addressed the battalion during the ceremony. “Even if the colors remain cased in perpetuity, the soldiers who have served in this historic organization and the soldiers they train in the future continue to serve, and carry forward with them the Superleg legacy,” Collins said.
Following Collins, Elliott remarked about the unit’s storied history and thanked the unit’s soldiers, past and present. A couple of the former battalion commanders and senior enlisted advisers were in attendance during the ceremony.
“Soldiers of the 530th, I have never seen you look better than you look today,” said Elliott. “You are part of a proud legacy and a tradition of selfless service. Be proud of your accomplishments, always remain loyal to your colors and the history they represent,” Elliott continued.
The 530th CSSB was composed of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 54th, 108th, 111th and 959th Quartermaster Companies. Its mission was to provide tactical and operational level sustainment in order to sustain combat power of U.S., joint and combined forces conducting unified land operations.
The Superleg Warriors, as the battalion has been called, have supported a variety of deployments since World War II. Most recently, the battalion as a whole deployed to Haiti in support of Operation Unified Endeavor January 2010.
The battalion’s subordinate units continued to deploy throughout the world post 9-11, supporting a variety of missions in places such as Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Two units from the battalion will be placed under the command of the 82nd Special Troops Battalion and will remain at Fort Lee. The 54th and 111th Quartermaster Companies, both of which are the Army’s only active duty mortuary affairs units, will be commanded by a local element, which will serve as a liaison command to the 82nd STB, currently stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.