Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Knowles | Col. John O’Grady, the brigade commander of the 3rd Infantry Division Artillery,...... read more read more
FORT STEWART, Ga. - The 3rd Infantry Division Artillery returned to the 3ID Family at Marne Gardens, Oct. 17.
The former 42nd Fires Brigade was reflagged during a transition ceremony in which the 42nd FiB colors were cased and then, the 3ID DIVARTY colors were uncased.
The return of the Fires Brigade was a short lived experience for the Soldiers of the unit, as it was all in preparation to bring back the 3ID DIVARTY.
“What a year it has been for the 42nd Fires Brigade,” said Maj. Gen. Mike Murray, the commanding general of the 3rd ID. “Exactly one year ago today, on this same field, we uncased the colors of the 42nd Fires Brigade, a brigade that, at that time, had less than 15 Soldiers and no equipment.”
Murray was the guest speaker at the ceremony, and shared his view of what the DIVARTY had in store for it:
“This reinstitution of DIVARTY is occurring, not only in the Marne division, but in all 10 of the Army’s active-duty divisions. This transformation of the fires war fighting function will result in an increased effectiveness to execute strategic, operational, and tactical fires missions in support of unified land operations, allowing our division to better support our combatant commanders’ requirements as part of the joint force.”
Col. John O’Grady, the brigade commander of the new 3ID DIVARTY, has been the commander of the unit since its inception as the 42nd FiB.
“To the Soldiers of the 42nd Fires Brigade, I can attest that one of the most difficult missions of an organization can take on is an activation,” O’Grady said. “It’s supremely unique and places a whole host of challenges on leaders and Soldiers. You have accomplished your mission in a disciplined manner, all the while simultaneously transitioning midstride to the DIVARTY. The Soldiers and families of the 42nd FiB, now the DIVARTY, can be justifiably proud.”
With new beginnings, come new challenges and new missions for the DIVARTY, also known as Marne Thunder.
“The DIVARTY will play a key role to reverse the continuing atrophy of field artillery skills, halt the erosion of professional and leader development, and restore the art and science of synchronizing all fires.” O’Grady added the DIVARTY is about providing support to other maneuver commanders. “It really is that simple,” he said.
As Col. O’Grady takes on the mantle of ‘Thunder 6’, he is determined to keep a long-standing promise between him and his maneuver commander brethren.
“We will focus on providing fire support,” said O’Grady. “It is what we do. It is a sacred trust that we must not break with our maneuver commanders who we support.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.22.2014 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 145771 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 238 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Marne Thunder returns to Marne Division, by SFC Aaron Knowles, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
