EYGELSHOVEN, Netherlands –
The Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 work sites in Europe have garnered increased global attention following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine about a year and a half ago. On a weekly basis distinguished visitors, high ranking government officials and senior military leaders conduct site visits to these APS-2 sites and receive capabilities briefings from the 405th Army Field Support Brigade.
Recently, the acting U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, Aleisha Woodward, and Army attaché Col. Mark Sturgeon visited the APS-2 site in Eygelshoven, Netherlands. Woodward is the acting ambassador while Ambassador Shefali Razdan Duggal – who previously visited the Eygelshoven APS-2 site about a year ago – is out of country. Woodward’s permanent position at the U.S. embassy in the Netherlands is deputy chief of mission and deputy to the ambassador, also known as chargé d'affaires.
Woodward, who has served as a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department for over 25 years, was greeted by leaders and staff from Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux and U.S. Army Garrison Benelux-Brunssum at the Eygelshoven APS-2 site. She and Sturgeon were provided an operations briefing on Eygelshoven’s capabilities and escorted through the site to see for themselves how an APS-2 work site operates in Europe.
"It's important my team meets with these distinguished visitors and senior government leaders on a regular basis,” said Lt. Col. Blake Smith, the AFSBn-Benelux commander. “Visits like this help to clearly demonstrate our capabilities and highlight the important relationships we have with our host nation partners – the Netherlands and Belgium.”
“It's 100 percent a team effort, and we would not be successful if not for the strong collaborative efforts and partnerships we have with the Dutch Ministry of Defense workforce here at Eygelshoven and the Belgian local national civilian workforce we have at our APS-2 work site in Zutendaal, Belgium," said Smith.
The Eygelshoven APS-2 site provides 450,000 square feet of climate-controlled warehouse space in nine warehouses as well as 50,000 square feet of hardstand storage to hold and maintain APS-2 equipment sets. Responsible for the site, AFSBn-Benelux is one of four battalions assigned to the 405th AFSB. The battalion has mission command over Eygelshoven and Zutendaal and is charged with providing and coordinating receipt, transfer, storage and maintenance of APS-2 at those sites. This enables commanders to conduct unified action and perform a full range of military operations in support of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
The 405th AFSB’s APS-2 program enhances U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region. By providing turn-key power projection APS-2 packages ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, the APS-2 program is a key component of U.S. Army Europe and Africa’s power projection and warfighter readiness missions.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and under the operational control of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa. The brigade is headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and provides materiel enterprise support to U.S. Forces throughout Europe and Africa – providing theater sustainment logistics; synchronizing acquisition, logistics and technology; and leveraging the U.S. Army Materiel Command materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website at www.afsbeurope.army.mil and the official Facebook site at www.facebook.com/405thAFSB.