LIVORNO, Italy –
Dan Gwinn enlisted in the Army in 1974 near the end of the Vietnam War. After more than a half of a century of service with the Army, Gwinn is retiring as an Army Civilian at the end of this month on the year of the Army’s 250th birthday.
Having served over 50 years with Army – 20 percent of its entire 250-year history – the Army Field Support Battalion-Africa supply officer at Leghorn Army Depot in Livorno is taking a much-deserved knee.
For the past 28 years Gwinn has worked with Army Prepositioned Stocks. Leghorn is his third APS-2 worksite with the 405th Army Field Support Brigade in nearly seven years. He was first assigned to Army Field Support Battalion-Benelux in Eygelshoven, Netherlands, from 2018 to 2020. Next, he was assigned to Army Field Support Battalion-Germany in Vilseck, Germany, from 2020 to 2022. And since 2022, he’s been with AFSBn-Africa at Leghorn. Gwinn also worked APS in South Korea prior to coming to Europe.
“Truthfully, I’m coming to the end of an amazing Army career, both as a Soldier and as an Army Civilian,” said Gwinn who is 69 years old. “It’s been a great ride. Over 50 years for me. Happy 250th birthday, U.S. Army.”
In addition to being a supply officer at AFSBn-Africa, Gwinn served as the commander’s accountable officer for several months. During his tenure at AFSBn-Africa he was responsible for running inventories, managing supply transactions, maintaining property accountability, issuing APS equipment to gaining tactical units and using Global Combat Support System-Army, plus more.
“I’ve been in the Army since I was 18 years old, so I’ve basically worked property accountability and supply from 18 to this day. It’s a long time,” said Gwinn, who served as a Soldier from 1974 to 1994 before retiring from active duty at the rank of master sergeant. “I like interacting with people so it’s hard to leave, but I’m at the age now where it’s definitely time to enjoy a few years with my wife.”
AFSBn-Africa where Gwinn has been assigned for the past 2.5 years is charged with receiving, maintaining, storing and issuing APS-2 at Leghorn as well as at locations forward – known as equipment configuration and handoff areas, or ECHAs. Leghorn Army Depot consists of 16 warehouses and 749,000 square feet of humidity-controlled storage space plus four maintenance facilities as well as 1.5 million square feet of outside storage.
The 405th AFSB is assigned to U.S. Army Sustainment Command and headquartered in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The brigade 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.
The Army will celebrate its 250th birthday on June 14. For 250 years, the Army has offered endless possibilities and opportunities for service to our nation with over 200 career choices for Soldiers and more than 500 career paths for civilians. To learn more about the Army’s 250th birthday, visit www.army.mil/1775 and check out the DVIDS’s special Army birthday feature portal at www.dvidshub.net/feature/ARMY250.