Courtesy of SDDC news release

FORT EUSTIS, Va., (Jan. 29, 2004, USTCNS)--- In a ceremony graced by the combatant commander of U.S. Transportation Command, the Surface Deployment and Distribution Command was formally introduced today into the Army ranks.

Before several hundred employees and industry supporters, the command's new flag was unfurled in the crisp winter air. Spectators applauded heartily.

The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command is the new name for the Military Traffic Management Command, a Major Army command for the past 30 years. The command's mission is the global, joint movement of combat units, sustainment cargo, service member household goods and privately owned vehicles.

The redesignation of the command's name was actually official Jan. 1, 2004.

The name change was predicated by the organization's changed missions to meet the demands of the Global War on Terror and Operations Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom.

The name change and transition of SDDC to its current deployment and distribution focus to warfighter customers are "absolutely magnificent," said Gen. John Handy, U.S. Transportation Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

"To couple with the mission change-the name has to change," said Handy. "Deployment and distribution is what we are talking about."

The name change follows closely on the heels of the U.S. Transportation Command being designated as the Defense Department's Joint Distribution Process Owner

The name change is one of a number of achievements of Maj. Gen. Ann Dunwoody, SDDC Commander, who joined the command in October 2002.

"The new name reflects our No. #1 focus," said Dunwoody, "supporting the warfighter. The War on Terrorism has demanded we change ourselves."

Dunwoody praised SDDC employees.

"Talk about flexibility," said Dunwoody. "Talk about agility. There is absolutely nothing they won't do."

The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command will be a key enabler of a new and improved joint distribution system envisioned by the combatant command, said Dunwoody.

"It is a great day for SDDC," said Dave Larson, vice president, of Landstar's Government Transportation Services, of Springfield, Va.

"It is more than a name change," said Larson. "It is a sweeping statement of the tremendous mission the command is working day-in-and-day out?worldwide."

Headquartered jointly in Alexandria, Va., and with its Operations Center at Fort Eustis, Va., SDDC is an Army Component Command of U.S. Transportation Command.

This is not the first name change since the Major Army Command was established in 1965 as the Military Traffic Management and Terminal Service. The change to Military Traffic Management Command in 1974 marked a transition in process in the post-Vietnam Era.