CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – The 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, an Army logistics headquarters here, is launching a new awareness program ahead of its planned redeployment later this summer.
Called "Finish Strong," the campaign is designed to call attention to the end of the 364th ESC’s overseas mission.
The 364th, a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Marysville, Wash., was mobilized in July 2011 and deployed to Kuwait in September. Its mission was to help direct the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq.
“When we arrived in theater, our goal was to get American soldiers home for the holidays, in accordance with the President’s directive, and we did that,” said Capt. Christopher Larsen, a unit spokesman. “Our soldiers’ efforts led to American forces heading home from Iraq two weeks ahead of schedule.”
Larsen said the 364th ESC helped move of more than 68,000 soldiers and more than 11,300 truckloads of equipment out of Iraq from October to December of last year.
Since that time, the 364th ESC has focused on recycling and redistributing tens of thousands of pieces of materiel and equipment, putting it back into Army stocks where it can be better used, Larsen said.
“We’ve saved the American taxpayer well over $15 million in payroll alone since January,” Larsen added.
The "Finish Strong" campaign will be rolled out to soldiers and families later in June.
“We really want to end this deployment on a high note,” said Col. Lawrence Meder, the 364th ESC chief of staff. “We’ve done so many great things here, and we want to let everybody know about them.”