1st Battalion, 1st Civil Affairs and Psyops welcomes new commander

Photo By Ryan Morton | Maj. Lance McCartney, commander, 1st Battalion, 1st Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Training Brigade, takes the unit guidon from Lt. Col. Darryl Suggs, commander, 1st Training Brigade, during the organization's Change of Command ceremony at Army Support Activity-Dix's Infantry Park, July 15. McCartney assumes command from Lt. Col. Kenneth LaVoy, who will go to Suffolk, Va. for his next assignment working at Special Operations Command Joint Forces.  

FORT DIX, NJ, UNITED STATES

07.15.2010

Story by Ryan Morton 

USASA, Fort Dix

Leadership and dignitaries from the Army Support Activity-Dix community gathered at Infantry Park to welcome the new commander of 1st Battalion, 1st Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Training Brigade at a change of command ceremony July 15.

Maj. Lance McCartney, who comes to the unit from his previous assignment as operations and training officer for 1st Bn., 1st Tng. Bde., Fort Bragg, N.C., took command from Lt. Col. Kenneth LaVoy.

“I am honored to take command of the best Soldiers United States Army Civil Affairs Psychological Operations Command has to offer. Lt. Col. LaVoy has set the bar and he expects us to continue to provide quality and realistic training to those who go into harm’s way,” said McCartney.

McCartney hails from Mansfield, Ohio, and joined the U.S. Navy in 1973 as a hospital corpsman. In 1979, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a forward observer and later re-classed as a cavalry scout. Later, McCartney was selected to attend aero scout school and gained qualification to fly the OH-58 Kiowa aircraft as an observer. In 1983, he joined the Ohio Army National Guard as an aero scout observer and has logged more than 1,200 hours of flight control experience in various rotary wing aircraft.

McCartney received a direct commission by 4th U.S. Army in 1989 after graduating from Central Ohio State College and Ohio Dominican University and was ordered to active duty as a chemical officer. During his more than 30 years of enlisted and commissioned service in the U.S. Army McCartney has served as a United States Military Academy admissions officer, signal officer, and civil affairs officer.

Lt. Col. Darryl Suggs, commander, 1st Training Brigade, travelled from Fort Bragg, N.C., for the ceremony and praised the outgoing commander for the work LaVoy and his Soldiers did in preparing civil affairs and psychological operations Soldiers deploying through the Central Command area for overseas missions. Suggs added LaVoy was very passionate and involved in every aspect of his command.

Suggs then offered words of encouragement to McCartney.

“I have all the confidence in you and I know that you will continue the commitment to excellence in training and taking care of Soldiers,” said Suggs.

LaVoy then addressed his former Soldiers one last time, telling them how humbled he felt to stand before them and how much of an honor and privilege it’s been to lead them.

“The success of the battalion will be shaped by those Soldiers on the field before us and the relationships that we continue to foster with internal and external organizations,” said LaVoy.

LaVoy will move onto his new assignment as command desk officer for Special Operations Command-Joint Forces Command at Suffolk, Va.

• Date Taken: 07.15.2010
• Date Posted: 07.21.2010 14:57
• Story ID: 53184
• Location: FORT DIX, NJ, US