USACAPOC(A) Commander Says Goodbye to Soldiers, Moves to U.S. Joint Forces Command

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

09.20.2009

Story by Capt. David Chace 

U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne)

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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — "Being selected for command is like receiving a precious gift. It is to be treasured and cared for, but it comes with a significant caveat: it is not yours to keep," said Maj. Gen. David A. Morris Sunday morning outside the U.S. Army Special Operations Command headquarters. "Command must be passed on, hopefully a little better than how you found it."

Sept. 20, Morris passed on the U.S. Army Civil Affairs & Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) after serving as its commanding general since 2007.

"The civil affairs community that we have today — the best we've ever had — is here because of Dave Morris and what he has given," said Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, during the USACAPOC(A) change of command ceremony. Stultz, who was the ceremony's reviewing officer, said Morris and USACAPOC(A) have established a legacy for growing and developing its forces even as they support overseas contingency operations at a rate of 20 months between deployments.

Morris first came to USACAPOC(A) in early 2005 as a brigadier general to fill the position of deputy commanding general. During his tenure as deputy commander and under the leadership of Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Herbert "Buzz" Altshuler, the command was transferred out of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and reassigned to the U.S. Army Reserve Command, splitting the Army's civil affairs and psychological operations communities. While the two branches' small active-duty components remained under USASOC, the Reserve soldiers of USACAPOC(A) and the vast majority of the Army's civil affairs and psychological operations units came under the oversight of Stultz and the Reserve Command.

In the years that followed, Morris was promoted to major general to fill Altshuler's shoes as the top officer for the command's force of 12,000 soldiers throughout the United States. As commanding general, Morris saw the command establish its first Reserve unit outside the continental United States, gain international recognition for its airborne program, and support U.S. missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa at an unprecedented operational tempo.

"The average dwell time in USACAPOC(A) is 20 months," Morris said, "to be with families, pursue civilian careers and education, and conduct normal Reserve activities and duties."

"This has placed tremendous stress on the force, and yet you have continued to answer the nation's call," he said to the Soldiers during Sunday's ceremony.

"You provide, in a very direct way, what our Army and the neat ion needs, even if they sometimes do not understand it," he said. "You do it from Korea, to Peru; from Iraq, to Germany; from Afghanistan, to Keyna; from the deserts' heat, to the mountains' cold air; from the steaming jungles, to the downtrodden barrios."

"You are making a different. Remember this: no one, no one does what you do," Morris said. "Take pride in being a citizen-warrior. You bring skills that can't be found anywhere else."

Morris has a background in special operations, and past assignments include time spent with 7th Special Forces Group, the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Joint Forces Command, among many other organizations. Morris is leaving USACAPOC(A) to return to U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., where his family has lived throughout his last four and a half years at Fort Bragg.

"Even though I'm leaving the command, I hope to continue to push the Department of Defense and Department of the Army in the right direction to what this command requires," Morris said at a USACAPOC(A) event in August, not long after finding out about the re-assignment. "I give you my word that I will do that."

Morris's new position at the four-star command is as the deputy director and joint force trainer for doctrine and joint capabilities development.

"I will be responsible for working on joint integration and interoperability issues across the services — across special operations forces and general purpose forces," he said.

In Sunday's ceremony, Morris relinquished the command's colors to Maj. Gen. David N. Blackledge. Morris and Blackledge were classmates at the United State Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., both graduating in 1975. While Morris was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant and went on to join the army's special forces community, Blackledge was commissioned a field artillery second lieutenant, and transferred into the civil affairs branch in 1988. Since then, Blackledge has commanded civil affairs units as a lieutenant colonel, colonel and brigadier general and served as the top commander for all civil affairs soldiers in Iraq in 2005-'06.

"[Blackledge] is the right person to take the reigns from Dave Morris and take USACAPOC(A) to that next level and continue to grow the force," Stultz said in Sunday's change of command ceremony.

Stultz said that he's got the right team, with Morris helping the military at the joint level in Norfolk, and with Blackledge taking command of USACAPOC(A) at Fort Bragg.

"I feel good today," Stultz said.

"To all members of USACAPOC(A): you represent and fight for what is good and true about the American way of life," Morris said in closing.

"All of you have given me more than I ever gave you, and I thank you for it."