Unofficially nicknamed the “Lucky 13th,” the 13th Sustainment Command was originally designated the 13th Support Brigade when it was constituted and activated in 1965 at Fort Hood, Texas, which was renamed Fort Cavazos in Spring 2023. It was charged with training units for combat-service support missions in Vietnam, but as the mission of it and similar units continued to grow and evolve, it was redesignated as 13th Corps Support Command, or 13th COSCOM, in 1975 and 13th Support Command (Corps) five years later. It was redesignated 13th Corps Support Command in 1989, and it was under this name that it earned an Army Superior Unit award for the role it played in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991.
In 2000, its designation reverted back to its 1980 status of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 13th Support Command. Six years later, it became the first COSCOM to receive the designation of a Sustainment Command. In the intervening years it earned a Meritorious Unit Commendation for its role in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2006-2007); it was awarded another one for a deployment in 2009-1010. It also deployed units to Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
The 13th Sustainment Command has a long history of providing support for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions, both at home and abroad, including deployments to Nicaragua, Somalia, Kuwait, Honduras, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Mexico, to name just a few.
Still stationed at Fort Cavazos, the 13th Sustainment Command provides command and control for all its assigned and attached unit, and also provides Combat Service Support to all Fort Hood Units. Its roster exceeds over 6,000 soldiers.
An octagon is one of the strongest geometric shapes in nature, and in the CSIB for 13th Sustainment Command we see one made even stronger by the reinforcement of an interior saltire, or diagonal cross. A thirteen-pointed star denotes the numerical designation of the Command, and symbolizes the worldwide scope of the unit’s missions. The unit’s motto, “Service To The Soldier,” is found on its Distinctive Unit Insignia, more commonly referred to as a unit crest.
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13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Unit Patch (SSI)
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Unit Crest (DUI)