Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Sinthia Rosario | Deputy Commanding Officer Col. Bernard Harrington, 101st Airborne Division (Air...... read more read more
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The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the Fort Campbell community, bid farewell to Deputy Commanding Officer Col. Bernard Harrington during a Honor Eagle Ceremony at Fort Campbell, Ky., May 23. The ceremony was held to recognize Harrington’s accomplishments and contributions to the Screaming Eagle Team.
As part of the ceremony, the 101st Abn. Div. command team, Maj. Gen. JP McGee, commanding general and Command Sgt. Maj. Veronica Knapp, awarded the Legion of Merit Medal to Harrington. Harrington was also presented with a 105 millimeter commemorative brass canister from the firing of honors by the Soldier of the Year, Sgt. Daniel Olmeda. He received an award on behalf of the City of Hopkinsville from Mayor Wendell Lynch, received an award on behalf of the City of Clarksville from Bill Harpel. Harrington was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky by Kelli Pendleton and received a small token of appreciation on behalf of the Military Affairs Community from Kristi Murtha.
Harrington served as the DCO-Sustainment for ten months. During his tenure, Harrington’s direct contributions to the division were numerous. He was charged with the task of transforming the division and installation’s approach to deployment out-load readiness since January. He improved the division’s ability to respond to any contingency anywhere in the world when called upon.
“Bernie also spearheaded our “People First Initiative,” said McGee. “His work on suicide prevention, human performance optimization and innovation, along with the division’s various Golden Triangle “This is my Squad” efforts continues to enhance cohesion among our fantastic Soldiers in a way that will continue to have an impact well into the future.”
Harrington was also tasked with the division’s Air Assault capable sustainment enterprise and under his leadership the Screaming Eagles are more Air Assault sustainment capable than the division has seen in a very long time.
McGee praised how well Harrington performed as the Screaming Eagle DCO-S.
“Bernie, there is no doubt that you were the right leader for this job,” McGee said. “You accomplished everything that I wanted and did so with a smile on your face. You often used the word “wonderful” when I gave you a new task, and for the life of me, I could never figure out if you meant it, or if it was sarcasm. I’m going to believe it was the former.”
During the ceremony McGee spoke a few words about Harrington’s leadership.
“If I were to describe the secret to Bernie’s success, I would say the following: you are genuine in everything that you do and it’s clear to everyone that you’re a true leader,” said McGee. “Moreover, Bernie is one of those rare leaders that can hold people to high standard in an incredibly positive way.”
Harrington stood at the podium and thanked his leadership for all their support and mentorship.
“Sir, I can’t thank you enough for this honor to serve as one of your deputy commanders and the opportunity to truly learn from you,” said Harrington. “To learn that it’s possible that one can be committed to excellence in the basics while simultaneously challenging the norms of how we do business, to invest in cultivating talent, ensuring that our future Army is led by creative leaders of conviction, and regardless of the situation, to never take yourself so seriously that you can’t have fun in what is a very tough job.”
As his time as deputy commanding officer comes to an end, he concluded his speech with expressing the honor it was to serve the Screaming Eagle Team.
“Again, I thank each of you for all that you do for our Soldiers and for your Nation,” said Harrington. “Serving as a Screaming Eagle will always be the greatest honor of my professional life. May God bless each of you and may God watch over our Screaming Eagles currently deployed and their loved ones.”
McGee warmly thanked the Harrington’s family.
“To the entire Harrington family, it’s bittersweet to see you depart, but I take solace in the fact that you will continue to be a part of our wider Army family for years to come,” McGee said. “Thank you for everything that you’ve given us and will continue to give our great country. On behalf of everyone in the division and on Fort Campbell, we wish all of you, Bernie, Jen, Jeremy, and Sebastian the very best at Fort Lewis and beyond.”
| Date Taken: | 05.23.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2022 18:25 |
| Story ID: | 421436 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 386 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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