The 403rd Army Field Support Brigade (AFSB), headquartered in the Republic of Korea, is a mission focused and modular unit, organized to place logistics power forward to every element of our expeditionary Army.

The 403rd AFSB has a network of Logistics Support Elements that provide direct support to corps-level activities; Army Field Support Battalions (AFSBn) AFSBn-Korea and ASFBn-Northeast Asia – which provide direct support to the 2nd Infantry Division (Combined) (2ID(CMB)) and management of the regional Army Prepositioned Stocks-4 (APS-4); Brigade Logistics Support Teams (BLSTs) that provide direct support to the 2ID/ROK U.S. Combined Division, nondivisional brigade combat teams and logistics support teams, providing direct support to non-divisional units in its assigned areas, including Okinawa and mainland Japan.

The 403rd AFSB provides Army Sustainment Command (ASC) and its Materiel Enterprise partners a forward presence to assist in managing sustainment maintenance and supply, and to assist theater maintenance activities in accomplishing field maintenance when required. The 403rd mission is to sustain U.S. Forces Korea, 8th Army, U.S. Forces Japan, and support the combatant commander’s theater strategy. These missions include but are not limited to: Synchronizing the LCMCs’ Forward and Special Repair Activities support within theater; maintenance and distribution of APS; materiel fielding; wartime planning support for reception, staging, onward movement, and integration of Army Materiel Command (AMC) augmentation forces; infrastructure development to support AMC power projection capabilities; Logistics Assistance Program; Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP); and the integration of acquisition, logistics, and technology to support Soldier requirements.

An integral part of the 403rd AFSB team, Logistics Assistance Representatives, are embedded with the Logistics Support Teams and elements to provide support to Soldiers at every echelon, thus ensuring equipment readiness. Effective Oct. 1, 2013, the 403rd assumed mission command of the Directorates of Logistics in Japan and Korea that were subsequently renamed Logistics Readiness Centers (LRCs) to ensure effective and efficient transfer of responsibilities from the U.S. Army Garrisons to the 403rd. Six LRCs were transferred smoothly and to the satisfaction of the senior mission commanders throughout the 403rd areas of support.

Linking Soldiers at the smallest outposts in Korea and Japan to the national sustainment base makes the 403rd AFSB a pivotal part of the Materiel Enterprise. The AMC Customer Service Office-Pacific opened in Seoul in 1966. Renamed the Logistics Assistance Office-Far East (LAO-FE) in 1972, it was responsible for technical assistance, wholesale supply support, management of modification work orders, and select item management for all Army units in U.S. ArmyPacific.

AMC Forward-Far East was established in 1986 to coordinate all AMC activities in the Far East. Consolidated under AMC Forward-FE were the Depot Support Activity Far East (DSAFE), Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment, LAO-FE, the Logistics Assistance Program senior command representatives, the Science and Technology CenterFar East, and the science adviser. AMC-Logistics Support Element-FE was established in 1995 to correct the fragmentation of missions. The U.S. Army Operations Support Command, the predecessor of ASC, took over management in 2000.

The DSAFE and Combat Equipment Battalion-Far East began reporting to AMC-FE in 2000. During 2001, the name of the command returned to AMC Forward-Far East. On May 1, 2005, AMC Forward-FE was redesignated as Army Field Support Brigade-Far East (AFSB-FE). The AFSB-FE restructured its Logistics Assistance Offices into LSEs and BLSTs to provide modular support to the 8th U.S. Army.

The AFSB-FE was destablished on Oct. 16, 2007, and the 403rd AFSB was activated. The 403rd assumed responsibility for the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program operations in the Pacific, the watercraft mission in Yokohama, and AMC functions in Japan and Okinawa.