Photo By Sgt. Kayla Benson | Soldiers of the 191st Combat Service Support Battalion welcome Lt. Col. James J....... read more read more
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Lt. Col. Kenneth R. Lawrence smiled as he held the unit colors in his hands. He passed the red and beige flag to Col. Phillip S. Jolly, who in turn gave it to Lt. Col. James J. Groark. This tradition marks the first step the new commander takes to show his responsibility over his Soldiers.
Groak took command of the 191st Combat Service Support Battalion, 96th Sustainment Brigade, during the change of command ceremony Jan. 22, 2012, replacing Lawrence, in preparation for the unit’s deployment this year.
Approximately 70 soldiers with logistical, movement, and ammunition specialties are scheduled to mobilize to Kuwait this year for nine months. There, they will be reducing the logistical footprint in Kuwait and assisting the drawdown in Iraq by relocating equipment into areas that need logistical support, including Afghanistan.
“Col. Lawrence did such a phenomenal job of getting the unit ready that the headquarters is deploying fourteen months ahead of schedule - that is unheard of,” said Jolly, commander of the 96th Sustainment Brigade, during the change of command ceremony.
Usually, Reserve units have fifteen months to prepare for mobilization, where as Groak has less than half that time to ready his unit.
“We’ve had to double up on drills to accomplish what units do in a year in five months,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher A. Beyer.
Lawrence showed confidence in his former unit.
“We’ve built a great team. They’re going to come together to do a great job,” said Lawrence.
Jolly expressed faith in Groark’s command during the change of command ceremony.
“I lobbied hard to get Col. Groark into this command because I believe in Col. Groark. He is an outstanding leader,” said Jolly. “Everything he’s done for me has been nothing but excellent and I know he’s the right guy to take the headquarters into combat.”
“I know with the help of Sgt. Maj. and his phenomenal headquarters that they will have every success in theater,” Jolly said.
The soldiers of the 191st CSSB welcomed Groark with a booming “Dead Eye Ready!” when he called them to attention for the first time.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.25.2012 01:06 |
| Story ID: | 85750 |
| Location: | SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, US |
| Web Views: | 453 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 191st CSSB says farewell to Lt. Col. Lawrence before deployment, by SGT Kayla Benson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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