Photo By Staff Sgt. Kyle Warner | Col. Scott J. Sheridan, incoming commander, passes the brigade guidon to Command Sgt....... read more read more
Subscribe
The Idaho Army National Guard’s 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team held a change of command ceremony Jan. 7 on Gowen Field to signify the transfer of authority between outgoing commander Col. Farin Schwartz and the incoming commander, Col. Scott Sheridan.
Schwartz assumed command of the state’s largest unit in March 2016. He said that his time as the brigade’s commander flew by.
“I’m thankful for the dedication and hard work of the Soldiers who made the last two years the highlight of my career,” Schwartz said.
Under Schwartz’s command, the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team participated in several operations across the world and underwent a transition that saw the brigade grow by several hundred Soldiers and incorporate a unit from the Nevada Army National Guard.
In the summer of 2016, the brigade participated in Saber Guardian 2016, a multinational military training exercise that involved 2,800 military personnel from 11 countries in Cincu, Romania. More than 1,100 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team Soldiers participated in the exercise, which involved using trains, ships and convoys to move more than 500 pieces of equipment to the training site, more than 9,000 miles away from Boise.
Among other exercises, the unit also participated in Maple Resolve, the Canadian Army’s premier brigade-level validation exercise in Canada; Keris Strike 2017 in Pahang, Malaysia; and Key Resolve in South Korea.
Domestically, the brigade participated in staff exercises at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside of Tacoma, Wash., and at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa.
In addition, the brigade’s engineer battalion spent last summer at Fort Hood, Texas, providing opposing forces in support of the 278th Armored Brigade Combat Team’s eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation. The task force provided opposing forces that allowed the Tennessee Army National Guard unit to train against a capable near-peer force.
The brigade’s 2016 reorganization brought updated equipment and 200 additional positions for Idaho Soldiers and expanded the unit’s footprint into Nevada.
The 2-116th Cavalry Regiment, headquartered in Caldwell, transitioned from an armored reconnaissance squadron to a combined arms battalion; the Magic Valley’s 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion reorganized into the 116th Brigade Engineer Battalion and added a forward support company in Jerome and a second engineer company in northern Idaho; and in eastern Idaho, the 1-148 Field Artillery Battalion added an additional firing battery.
The Nevada National Guard’s 1-221st Cavalry Regiment and the 777th Forward Support Company also joined the brigade.
The brigade now consists of more than 4,000 Solders in nearly 20 Idaho communities and four states, as Montana and Oregon each contribute a combined arms battalion to the brigade.
“It’s not what I did,” Schwartz said. “It’s what we did across four states.”
Sheridan previously served in the brigade as the commander of the 2-116th Cavalry Regiment from January 2016 to February 2017. His last assignment was the director of operations, Idaho Army National Guard,
before he assumed command of the brigade.
Sheridan has served in the Idaho Army National Guard since 1997. He enlisted into the Oregon Army National Guard in 1987 and commissioned as an armor officer in 1990 after graduating from Eastern Oregon State University’s ROTC Program.
“It’s an enormous responsibility to ensure every member of the organization is always preparing for the future,” Sheridan said. “It’s also critical to ensure every member of the brigade understands that they are just as important as the Solider to their left or right and that we watch out for each other.”
Schwartz will now serve as commander, Idaho Army National Guard/Assistant Adjutant General – Army as Brig. Gen. John Goodale prepares for retirement.
| Date Taken: | 01.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2018 16:00 |
| Story ID: | 261577 |
| Location: | BOISE, IDAHO, US |
| Hometown: | MOUNTAIN HOME, IDAHO, US |
| Web Views: | 1,084 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team changes commanding officer, by MAJ Robert Taylor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
