Polish school children some of the first guest visitors at new APS-2 site in Powidz

POWIDZ, Poland - The newest, most modern Army prepositioned stocks worksite in the world received some of its first guest visitors July 23, and they were all school children between the ages of 10 and 16 years old.

The team from Army Field Support Battalion-Poland welcomed the students to the Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 worksite in Powidz after receiving a request from the Polish air force's 33rd Air Base.

"We had a meeting on Monday, and our Polish counterparts said the school children were scheduled to visit their air base and asked if they could stop by the APS-2 site," said Capt. James Bath, the AFSBn-Poland operations officer.

The AFSBn-Poland commander, Lt. Col. Omar McKen, said if they want to come by and view what's going on here and have a conversation with the team then, by all means, bring them by, said Bath.

"A lot of the Polish air force personnel at the nearby air base live in Powidz and the surrounding communities, so a lot of the children who visited, their parents work on the air base. And some of the Polish officers and airmen who work here at our worksite are parents to a couple of the students who visited," Bath said.

According to Bath, the Powidz APS-2 worksite is supported by their Polish counterparts from the 33rd Air Base, which is located about 500 meters from the site. The Polish air force maintains all the facilities at the worksite, and eventually - once they are trained and fully certified - will also be responsible for providing maintenance on the APS-2 equipment there, as well.

More visitors, as well as distinguished guests and host nation military and civic leaders, are expected at the new APS-2 worksite in the future. In fact, in the weeks ahead AFSBn-Poland is planning to hold an official unit colors uncasing ceremony and in attendance will be local civic leaders and dignitaries, senior Polish and U.S. military officials, and other distinguished guests. Representatives from the news media will also be invited to attend.

"We're here now and our presence is going to impact the local communities. We want to foster and reinforce positive relations with our Polish neighbors and build friendships. Holding events like this and opening our gates to them is a good way of doing so," Bath said.

The state-of-the-art APS-2 worksite at Powidz encompasses 650,000 square feet of humidity-controlled warehouse space, a vehicle maintenance facility, and various supporting structures, plus 58,000 square feet of munitions storage. Built to support an entire modernized armored brigade combat team's worth of APS-2 combat vehicles and equipment sets, the Powidz APS-2 worksite is under the mission command of AFSBn-Poland, 405th Army Field Support Brigade.

The Powidz APS-2 worksite demonstrates the U.S. and NATO's commitment to maintaining rapid deployment capabilities, playing a crucial role in deterrence through enduring agreements and strategic investments. In addition, it alleviates many of the deployment requirements typically associated with deploying major combat units to Europe from the U.S. It is estimated that APS-2 worksites in Europe, like Powidz, can help reduce deployment timelines for an armored brigade combat team from 60 days to as little as a week or two.

The Powidz APS-2 worksite represents a significant leap forward in enhancing NATO's operational readiness and strategic capabilities on its Eastern Flank. Ultimately, the Powidz APS-2 worksite helps to solidify an important partnership between the U.S., NATO, and Poland, highlighting a commitment to the collective defense and security of Europe.

The 405th AFSB's APS-2 program enhances U.S. Army Europe and Africa's readiness and capability to support the warfighter while simultaneously promoting stability and security in the region. By providing turn-key power projection APS-2 packages ready to employ at a moment's notice, the APS-2 program is a key component of U.S. Army Europe and Africa's power projection and warfighter readiness missions.

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 U.S. Army Materiel Command's materiel enterprise to support joint forces. For more information on the 405th AFSB, visit the official website and the official Facebook site.

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