Photo By Sgt. Jeremy Lewis | The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) welcomes its 48th commanding general today...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, KY – In a COVID-conscious, live-streamed ceremony without troops, Maj. Gen. JP McGee accepted the guidon as the 48th Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and senior mission commander of Fort Campbell on March 5.
Lt. Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of 18th Airborne Corps, presided over the change of command ceremony as the guidon passed from Maj. Gen. Brian Winski to McGee.
“JP is ready to lead the 101st through the end of COVID,” Kurilla said, “And will aggressively train this division for its next rendezvous with destiny.”
McGee’s leadership emphasis, “trained, disciplined, fit, and cohesive”, is inspired by General James McConville, who as a former division commander focused on making the division “trained, disciplined, and fit.”
“If you are trained, you can execute your mission under night and day conditions or under stressful circumstances. If you’re fit, you’re able to pass physical fitness assessments and you’re able to meet the demands of future combat. If you’re disciplined, you’re doing the right thing at the right time, when no one is watching you,” McGee said.
The addition of “cohesive” is a charge to Screaming Eagles to improve how Soldiers care for one another and propel the division forward in making People First a reality for Soldiers and families of the 101st.
“If you’re cohesive, you are taking care of your fellow Soldiers,” McGee said.
Cohesive squads win wars on the battlefield and at home. Cohesive teams can prevent “these harmful behaviors that slip into our ranks from occurring because you’re all protecting each other,” he said.
McGee aspires to make People First more than a slogan. “All the hard challenges that we have are going to be tackled and overcome by people,” he said, “When we talk about People First, it’s not really a choice between people or operational readiness, it’s a matter of ‘how do we do both?’”
One of the recent division successes that McGee plans to continue is EagleWerx, a division program to accelerate Soldier-integrated innovation. EagleWerx seeks to connect people with resources to empower all Screaming Eagles to provide novel ideas that solve tactical problems.
“It is absolutely critical, for our ability to win future wars, that we start harnessing all of these technological developments that are happening all around us, and use them to make our Army more effective,” said McGee.
The new commander is no stranger to Fort Campbell, who returns to the area after eight years.
“One of the hidden treasures of Fort Campbell is the civilian workforce that we have here that is so dedicated to the mission, to our Soldiers, and to our families,” McGee said.
McGee has fond memories of his previous two assignments at Fort Campbell, especially of 2008 when he welcomed the birth of his daughter, now age 13, at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital.
McGee served as a battalion commander of 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment “No Slack” from 2006 to 2009, and as the commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team “Bastogne” from 2011 to 2013.
“It’s really great to be able to come home to Fort Campbell,” said McGee, “it’s just a wonderful area. I think about 45% of my time in the 101st was spent overseas in either Iraq or Afghanistan.”
When McGee was not deployed, he enjoyed canoeing and kayaking down the rivers and spending time at Lake Barkley.
McGee acknowledges that taking command one year into a world-wide pandemic presents leadership complexities different from the ones he encountered in his previous roles at Fort Campbell.
“COVID is a pandemic that’s affected all of us on different levels. Some of us have lost loved ones, others have had to home-school their children, some people have gotten sick and recovered but still have lingering issues,” McGee said. “One of the most important things for us to embrace and I strongly encourage, is the need for everybody who can safely take the vaccine to take the vaccine. We need to continue to follow the precautionary measures.”
McGee has a message for parents of new Soldiers who receive orders to the 101st, saying he takes the tremendous responsibility seriously.
“They will have high quality, positive leadership, work in an environment that allows their Soldier to excel, achieve the highest level of training readiness” said McGee, “they will be prepared to do their mission in training and in combat, safely and successfully.”
“It’s clearly an honor of a lifetime to be selected as the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division,” McGee said.
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2021 13:02 |
| Story ID: | 391038 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 1,416 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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