Photo By Brian Barbour | Arizona Army National Guard Col. Christopher S. Sandison, commander of the 198th...... read more read more
BELLEMONT, Ariz. – Under a deep blue Northern Arizona sky, the Arizona Army National Guard's 1120th Transportation Battalion said farewell to their commander and welcomed a new one during a change of command ceremony June 15 at Camp Navajo.
A line of transportation vehicles from the 1120th formed the backdrop behind a formation of Soldiers who stood at attention while Lt. Col. Chad M. Abts ceremoniously assumed command of the 1120th, replacing Lt. Col. Margaret E. Bielenberg.
Col. Christopher S. Sandison, commander of the 198th Regional Support Group, oversaw the ceremony, which was attended by Soldiers, family and friends.
“The 1120th Transportation Battalion is a unit with a long history of service to the nation,” Sandison said. “These commanders are a continuation of that history.”
Bielenberg, who served as the 1120th commander for a little over two years, moves on to become the deputy chief of logistics for the Arizona Army National Guard.
“Leaving command is always bittersweet,” Bielenberg said. “No officer wants to leave command because the greatest privilege we have is the opportunity to lead Soldiers.”
Bielenberg said that one of the things she was most proud of during her time as commander of the 1120th was reinstalling some of the pride of being transporters in her Soldiers.
“This is a phenomenal battalion with a tremendous history,” Bielenberg said. “Every company has deployed to a combat theater – some of them more than once.”
Bielenberg became misty eyed as she spoke with emotion and pride about the transportation battalion she was leaving.
“To get to command a battalion of transporters with signal assets; this was the greatest privilege of my career,” she said.
After taking command of the 1120th, Abts, thanked Sandison for the opportunity to lead the battalion.
He also thanked Bielenberg and the other previous 1120th commanders for setting up the unit up for future success.
Abts, whose previous assignment was operations officer for the Arizona Training Centers, addressed the Soldiers of the 1120th during his speech.
“If there is one thing that you take away from today's change of command ceremony, I want it to be this: do your job," Abts said. “The units of this battalion have a track record of greatness when they just simply do their job. There has been no operation or mission that you haven't received the highest of accolades on when you did your job.”
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| Date Taken: | 07.03.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2017 11:05 |
| Story ID: | 240004 |
| Location: | BELLEMONT, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,372 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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