Photo By Scott Sturkol | A scene is shown July 12, 2023, during the U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy Headquarters...... read more read more
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Fort McCoy recently received a new commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort McCoy during a change-of-command ceremony July 12 in building 905 at the installation.
During the ceremony, Maj. Randy Downs Jr. took command of the company from Lt. Col. James Lavelle. Lavelle had been the company commander since July 2021. Garrison Commander Col. Stephen Messenger served as the presiding officer.
Downs came to Fort McCoy after recently serving as the 383rd Military Intelligence Battalion executive officer. According to his biography, Downs was commissioned as a second lieutenant military intelligence officer through the Army ROTC program after graduating from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He also completed his master’s degree in international relations from Webster University of St. Louis.
Downs originally enlisted in the Army Reserve on Oct. 2, 2001, as a 63J, chemical and quartermaster equipment repair (mechanic). He attended basic combat training at Fort Knox, Ky., and completed advanced individual training at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. Lastly, he deployed to Cedar II, Iraq, with the 215th Quartermaster Company before contracting as a ROTC cadet.
Upon commissioning, he deployed to Baghlan Province, Afghanistan, with the Ohio Army National Guard’s 174th Air Defense Artillery Operational Mentor Liaison Team. Following that deployment, he was assigned to U.S. Transportation Command where he assumed multiple roles including the Army Element Deputy Commander and as an Africa Command Transnational Threat Analyst. He next assumed command of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, National Guard Professional Education Center at Camp Robinson, Ark., his biography states.
In 2017, he was assessed into the Army Reserve Active Guard Reserve program where he was assigned to the 377th Military Intelligence Battalion as the assistant operations officer, the biography states. He was then nominated to serve the Office of the Chief of the Army Reserve General Officer Management Office as an operations officer.
Downs is also a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff Officer College, Army Airborne School, Army Air Assault Course, Maneuver Captains Career Course, and Military Intelligence Basic Officer Leadership Course.
Downs’ awards and decorations include the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Citation Award, Airborne Badge, Air Assault Badge, Bronze Star Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal (with Campaign Star), Iraq Campaign Medal , NATO-ISAF Medal, German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (Gold), German Army Marksmanship Badge Schutzenschnur (Gold), and the Hungarian Peace Keeping Medal.
In his first remarks as the new company commander, Downs said thanked the garrison command team for their welcome, and he said he looks forward to working with the Fort McCoy team.
“I'm looking forward to working with you and learning from your experiences,” he said.
In welcoming Downs, Messenger said he looks forward to having him as the new company commander.
“I have the utmost trust in you to get great things done while you're here,” Messenger said. “There’s no doubt you’re going to make a difference, so congrats on this important assignment.”
Hear more of Downs’ opening remarks by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/audio/75487/new-us-army-garrison-fort-mccoy-headquarters-and-headquarters-company-commander-gives-remarks-2023-change-command-ceremony.
Hear more of Messenger’s speech from the ceremony by visiting https://www.dvidshub.net/audio/75484/fort-mccoy-garrison-commander-gives-remarks-during-2023-us-army-garrison-fort-mccoy-headquarters-and-headquarters-company-change-command.
Fort McCoy was established in 1909 and its motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2023 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 449492 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 492 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, New officer takes command of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, USAG-Fort McCoy, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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