AFSBN-Carson History
The Army began aligning LAOs with maneuver divisions in the 1980s to support projected tactical requirements in a large-scale ground campaign with the primary role of providing divisional units reach back capability to the Army’s large industrial complex. The term LAO was used to indicate Army civilians working in a garrison environment, while the term logistics support element (LSE) was adopted to denote Army civilians deployed. This structure would remain virtually unchanged over the next decade of providing support to the warfighter.
Following Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Department of the Army consolidated all Army war reserve stocks, including former theater reserves, into five regional materiel stockpiles: continental United States; Europe; Pacific; Southwest Asia; and Afloat. A new subordinate organization, the Army War Reserve Support Command (later redesignated the Army Field Support Command), was created in October 1996 to command and control all Army Prepositioned Stocks (APS) sets worldwide. The Department of the Army established the Army War Reserve Support Command (AWRSPTCMD) to serve as the Army’s centralized executing agent for all APS. The command officially stood up Nov. 25, 1996. The AWRSPTCMD began organizing and implementing the Army prepositioned stocks mission through its worldwide field organizational network. The AWRSPTCMD transitioned to the Field Support Command (FSC) on March 31, 2000. The U.S. Army Field Support Command (FSC), headquarters located at Rock Island, Illinois, was a one-star command that reported to the commander, Operations Support Command. Within FSC, there were six subordinate organizations: AMC-CONUS; AMC Forward-Europe; AMC Forward-Far East; AMC Forward-Southwest Asia; AMC Combat Equipment Group-Europe (AMC CEG-E); and AMC Combat Equipment Group-Afloat (AMC CEG-A), each headed by a command-designated colonel, who reports directly to the commander, U.S. Army Field Support Command.
During Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), FSC continued to mature into its role as the logistics integrator for all theaters of operation. The growth was most obvious in Southwest Asia as the brigades headquartered at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and Balad, Iraq, steadily continued to expand in mission, size and execution. On Oct. 1, 2004, four AMC forward units were redesignated as Army Field Support Brigades (AFSB): this included AFSB-SWA (now 401st AFSB); Iraq (now 402d AFSB in Kuwait); Europe (now 405th AFSB); and Far East (now 403d AFSB). In addition, on March 1, 2005, AFSBs CONUS East and CONUS West were formed out of the former AMC-CONUS to provide support to forces stationed in within the continental United States. CONUS East (now 406th AFSB) established operations at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, while CONUS West (now 407th AFSB) set up at Fort Hood, Texas. FSC units supporting the development and deployment of Stryker units from Fort Lewis, Washington, transformed into AFSB Stryker, later redesignated AFSB Pacific (now 404th AFSB).
One of the most significant challenges facing FSC was the maintenance and accountability of left behind equipment (LBE) and force generation requirements to meet demands of the theater combatant commanders. To leverage existing CONUS based structures and synchronize other AMC entities in support of the growing LBE and force generation missions, AMC redesignated the LAOs as provisional battalions. On June 7, 2006, the colors of the newly designated battalions were uncased as were the official colors of the redesignated 407th AFSB (formerly AFSB CONUS-West).
As the first provisional Army Field Support Battalion activated, the LAO at Fort Carson received the designation 1/407th AFSB and picked up the tagline “Always First.”
On Oct. 1, 2006, the U.S. Army Sustainment Command (ASC) activated and the U.S. Army Field Support Command (AFC) was inactivated. More than a name change, ASC become the CONUS Theater Support Command while also maintaining the seven globally deployed and CONUS based Army Field Support Brigades (AFSB).
On June 1, 2008, the 1/407th AFSB was redesignated as AFSBn-Carson (Provisional). The provisional designation was changed Oct. 4, 2009, with the establishment of the AFSBns as permanent in accordance with permanent order 198-01.
On Oct. 1, 2019, AFSBn-Carson received operational control (OPCON) of AMC Lifecycle Management Command (LCMC) lead senior technical representatives (L-STRs) and logistical assistance representatives (LARs) located on Fort Carson. Communication-Electronic Command (CECOM), Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), Aviation and Missle Command (AMCOM) and Joint Munition Command (JMC) work under the direction of the AFSBn-Carson Commander to ensure the readiness of the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson tenant units.
On May 1, 2020, AFSBn-Carson assumed mission command of the Fort Carson Logistics Readiness Center (LRC). The merger of both organizations ensured one AMC / ASC provider of logistics support for the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson. This change in organizational structure provided the framework to continue to manage readiness at the operational level.