The 110th CSSB: A Brief History

By Major William Carraway

Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

 

Left: Distinctive unit insignia of the 560th Engineer Battalion and 110th CSSB. Right: SOUTHPORT, N.C., May 9, 2015— Sergeant 1st Class
Van Bryant of the 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion double checks his manifest, insuring accountability of cargo containers
being loaded for distribution to the six joint munitions command depots located nationwide during Operation Patriot Bandoleer. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Gerard Brown.

The Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 110^th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion was organized and federally recognized in the Georgia Army National Guard as the Columbus-based HHC, 560^th Engineer Combat Battalion, part of the 48th Infantry Division April 20, 1948.[1]

Following the conversion of the 48^th Infantry Division to the 48^th Armor Division, the 560th was reorganized as the 560^th Armored Engineer Battalion November 1, 1955.[2] On July 1, 1959, the unit reorganized as the 560^th Engineer Battalion.[3]

FORT MCCLELLAN, Ala. August 20, 1955 - Headquarters and Service Company linemen string wire for the 560th Engineer Battalion bivouac site.
Left to right: Staff Sgt. William L. Lloyd and Private 1st Class Dan Bevan Jr., both of Columbus. Georgia National Guard Archives.

The 560^th continued to serve as the combat engineer element of the 48^th AD until the division inactivated in 1968 whereupon the 560^th was assigned to the newly created 265^th Engineer Group along with the 878^th Engineer Battalion.[4] Soldiers of the 265^th, 878^th and 560^th participated in Exercise Eastern Castle in Southeast Asia in 1992.[5]

In 1996, as part of a reorganization and reduction of the Georgia Army National Guard, the 560^th Engineer Battalion was broken up and elements formed the headquarters company of the 110^th Support Battalion.[6] Three years later, elements of the 110^th were called to support Golden Cargo 99 a multi-state effort that saw the 110^th serving as task force headquarters for the transport of multiple launch rocket system pods from Illinois to Texas.[7]

The 110^th mobilized in 2003 for Operation Noble Eagle[8] and in 2007 relocated to Tifton, Ga. where it is presently stationed.

The 110^th deployed to Iraq in 2010 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.[9] Two years later, Soldiers of the 110^th mobilized to Burkina Faso in support of the Africa Deployment Assistance Partnership Team training mission.[10] In 2015 the unit provided command and control for Operation Patriot Bandoleer and mobilized personnel to South Korea for Exercise Ulchi Freedom. [11] The 110^th again supported Patriot Bandoleer in 2017.[12]

FORT STEWART, Ga. October 10, 2016 - Georgia Army National Guardsmen of the 110th Combat Service Support Battalion and 148th Brigade Support
Battalion prepare pallets of water for transport to points of distribution following Hurricane Matthew. Photo by Capt. Robert Nash.

Units of the 110^th have supported hurricane response providing transportation assets to deliver humanitarian relief supplies following hurricanes Irma, Matthew, Michael and Dorian[13]. Soldiers of the 110^th also performed key roles during Georgia’s coordinated response to the Coronavirus outbreak staffing foodbanks in Valdosta, Atlanta and Thomasville while others assisted warehouse operations for the Department of Public Health. Still other Soldiers staffed specimen points of collection in Bulloch, and Tift Coffee County.

Georgia Army National Guardsman, Spc. Gary Poppell, a motor transportation sergeant with the Augusta-based 1148th Transportation Company,
unloads breakfast meals during the Atlanta Public Schools food distribution event at Douglass High School, Atlanta, Ga., April 20, 2020.
Photo by Sgt. 1st Class R.J. Lannom Jr.

The Headquarters Company of the 110^th CSSB is responsible for command and control of the largest battalion in the Georgia Army National Guard, The 110^th is presently comprised of the Fort Gordon-based 1148^th Transportation Company, the 277^th Maintenance Company at Kennesaw and the 1230^th Transportation Company in Thomasville. The subordinate elements of the 110^th CSSB have deployed multiple times in support of overseas and domestic missions, most recently in 2020 when Soldiers of the 1230^th TC supported the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol on the southwest border of the United States and in 2021 when Soldiers of the 110^th CSSB supported Exercise Agile Spirit in the Country of Georgia.

 

Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Phoenix, senior enlisted advisor of the 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 78th Troop Command,
Georgia Army National Guard, salutes during the opening ceremony of Exercise Agile Spirit 2021, July 26, 2021 at Senaki Air Base, Georgia.
Photo by Cpl. Rydell Tomas.

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[1] Military Department of the State of Georgia General Order No. 17 December 31, 1946, 2.

[2] NG AROTO 325.4 October 17, 1955, 7.

[3] OA 73-59 1 June 10, 1959, 7.

[4] State of Georgia Department of Defense. Annual Report FY 1968. (Atlanta: Georgia Department of Defense Sept. 1, 1968)

[5] State of Georgia Department of Defense. Annual Report FY 1993. (Atlanta: Georgia Department of Defense 1993) 7.

[6] OA 57-96 April 1, 1996, 1.

[7] “Georgia Units Haul MLRS Pods During “Golden Cargo.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. Summer, 1999, 22.

[8] Permanent Order 193-1 and 194-6. Demob 1 May 04, Permanent Order 188-65.

[9] Lineage and Honors Certificate, 110^th CSSB.

[10] Caleb Waldron. “110^th CSSB Provides Key Support to African Nations.” The Georgia Guardsman Magazine. July 2012, 22.

[11] Georgia Department of Defense Annual Report. 2015, 20.

[12] Georgia Department of Defense Annual Report. 2017, 19.

[13] Georgia Department of Defense Annual Report. 2016-2019.