I am the Chief of Staff at the 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) (ESC). My role in day-to-day operations and during the COVID-19 response is to synchronize all the efforts of the disparate staff functions — everything from personnel to logistical planning to operations — and also provide courses of action to our commander, BG Sue Henderson (DDE ’14) for her decision making. When I joined the Army, I never envisioned myself being mobilized within the continental United States to fight a disease or a virus, but this is real, this is homeland defense. We are an instrument of federal power, and here we are in a servant role, serving the needs of the population. Sure, this is a different kind of battlefield, but it is still defense. After our unit’s response to Hurricane Dorian last year, I think we were ready for this response. We learned from our challenges, we had a plan, we implemented it here, and because of that we are coming together better as a headquarters and staff. This is our Warfighter; this is a real-life Warfighter. We’re enabling those who are saving people’s lives, and I think everybody here at the 4th ESC can take some credit for that. We all played a role in getting the right instruments — in this case physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and the life-saving equipment they use — to the right place at the right time.
COL Bruce E. Jennings
Distance Class of 2013
Chief of Staff, 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)
