NEW CUMBERLAND, Pennsylvania –
Army Lt. Col. Jacob H. Freeman, Distribution Management Division chief and executive officer at Defense Logistics Agency Distribution Susquehanna, Pa., officially retired on May 19 after 29 years of service to the Army. The ceremony was officiated by Col. Brad Eungard, commander of the distribution center.
Freeman assumed the duties as the executive officer following graduation from the Command and General Staff Officer Course at Fort Leavenworth, KS. He initially entered military service in 1988 in the United States Army out of high school. During his enlistment, he earned a U.S. Army Green to Gold Scholarship and attended The University of Texas at Austin, Texas. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1997, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army.
Freeman's first assignment was truck platoon leader, 15th Transportation Company, Fort Sill Oklahoma in 1998. He served as platoon leader and company executive officer before changing station to Okinawa, Japan in 2002. In Okinawa, he served as support operations officer for the 835th Transportation Battalion. During this assignment, he deployed twice. The first deployment was to Diego Garcia, where he served as OIC, 599th Transportation Group DST OIC, supervising the offloading of munitions from prepositioned stocks, as well as updating ships manifests. In 2003, Freeman deployed to Kuwait and served as Battle Captain, 598th Transportation Group (Fwd), providing reports to the MTMC Headquarters on the largest port operation in MTMC history. After redeploying from Kuwait, Freeman immediately changed station to Fort Lee, Va., to attend the Combined Logistics Captains' Career Course (CLC3). Following CLC3, Freeman was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, where he immediately deployed with 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division in 2004. He served as assistant brigade S4 in Iraq until being reassigned in Iraq to DISCOM, 1st Cavalry Division, where he served as DISCOM movement control officer. After redeploying from Iraq in 2005, Freeman assumed command of Company A, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. In 2006, Freeman deployed his company to Iraq. While in Iraq, he was promoted to Major and reassigned as Brigade S4, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. After returning from Iraq in 2008, Freeman was selected to attend the Theater Logistics Study Course – Florida Institute of Technology. After completing this graduate program, he was awarded a Master of Science in logistics management. Following the completion of this course, Freeman was assigned to the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Daegu Korea, as G3 plans officer. He was subsequently selected to serve as Battalion S3 and then later as Battalion executive officer, 25th Transportation Battalion (Movement Control), Daegu, Korea.
Freeman's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (1OLC), the Army Commendation Medal (3 OLC), Army Achievement Medal (2OLC), the Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal (2).
Eungard presented Freeman with the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for his service at DLA Distribution, Susquehanna. Freeman was then presented with a certificate of retirement from the United States Army. During his remarks, Freeman expressed his gratitude to God and the Army for taking good care of his family during his 29-year career.