13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) - Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Deep in the process of deploying and redeploying 13th COSCOM units, key elements of 13th COSCOM were called into action in support of Joint Task Force Katrina/Rita hurricane relief efforts in the summer of 2005. 13th COSCOM provided 100 million rations, collected human remains with dignity, executed emergency engineering operations, transported, distributed and stored over one billion dollars in humanitarian relief from both non-governmental and federal sources from across the nation.

Numbering nearly 1,000 soldiers at the height of operations, the command and staff of the 13th COSCOM formed Logistics Task Force Lonestar, composed of several different units from the support command. Soldiers representing transportation companies, medical and engineer units, maintenance groups and others worked to bring stability back to the storm-ravaged city of New Orleans and, after Hurricane Rita came ashore, close to Lake Charles, La.

With a humanitarian support mission for the people of New Orleans, the Task Force performed logistical missions from purifying water to providing engineer support to help clean up the streets in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Joint Task Force Katrina. Working in sometimes difficult conditions, the task force was able to accomplish many tasks during their deployment including offering remedies to supply flow issues and establishing a donation distribution warehouse.

• HHC, 13th COSCOM
• Special Troops Battalion
• 49th Transportation Battalion
• 4th Corps Material Management Center