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Video by Spc. Elsi Delgado

Third Division Sustainment Brigade changes command, cases colors for deployment

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

June 22, 2023 | 0:49

U.S. Army Col. David Key relinquished command of the 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, to Col. Jennifer McDonough during a change of command ceremony on Cottrell Field at Fort Stewart, Georgia, today. The brigade and its subordinate battalion, the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, then officially cased their unit colors for a nine-month deployment to Europe. Hundreds of the brigade’s Soldiers will depart this summer to provide sustainment support and command and control to forward-stationed U.S. and Allied forces as part of the NATO mission to assure allies, increase military interoperability, and deter adversaries in Europe. The 3rd DSB is part of the division’s nearly 6,500 Soldiers currently deployed or deploying to Europe throughout the coming months.

“I trust the training that we’ve gone through to get us to the point where we deploy to Europe,” said Key. “The incoming brigade commander is going to fall in on a great team that is able to go ... and do the things they need to do to support the division.”

Key assumed command of the 3rd DSB on June 9, 2021, and early under his leadership, the brigade deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Spartan Shield. During the deployment, the 3rd DSB supported Operation Allies Refuge through the build-up of an interim staging base for forward movement of thousands of special immigrant visa applicants and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan, as well as delivery of millions of humanitarian assistance items to points of need. The brigade oversaw the resourcing of counter-ISIS operations throughout Iraq and conducted the first multilateral military convoy across the Trans-Arabian network, a 1,500-mile logistics operation that built partner capacity with armed forces of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The unit redeployed to Fort Stewart and uncased its colors in March 2022.

The 3rd DSB also deployed approximately 130 Soldiers in March 2022 to provide additional logistics support to units in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, returning home on Nov. 1, 2022. Key will now serve as the deputy commander of U.S. Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command.

“I’m extremely proud,” said Key. “The thing that we really wanted to focus on in the Division Sustainment Brigade, was making it a place where Soldiers want to come to work every day, do hard work, and come back again the next day with a smile on their face, ready to go just like a Dogface Soldier should.”

McDonough most recently served as the Cohesion Assessment Team lead and later Chief of Staff for the Secretary of the Army’s People First Task Force. She has commanded a forward support company in the 4th Infantry Division, a brigade support battalion in the 25th Infantry Division, and as troop commander for a forward-deployed Joint Task Force. She has served as a Senate legislative liaison for the Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison; a division chief sustainment officer; and as a division and Joint Task Force chief of staff.

“I stand here today, humbled and in awe, to have the opportunity to serve alongside our nation’s finest in this historic division,” said McDonough. “I am excited for what lies ahead.”

McDonough will lead the 3rd DSB through its deployment to Europe next month.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to set conditions for the future of the eastern flank of Europe,” she said. “This is the right brigade to do it.”
(U.S. Army video by Spc. Elsi Delgado)