FORT CARSON, Colo. – General David Rodriguez, commanding general, U.S. Army Forces Command, and the command’s senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Darrin Bohn, visited Fort Carson, April 12-13.
During their stay, the command team met with 4th Infantry Division leadership, toured installation facilities and training areas, and participated in an honor rally for one of the division’s fallen soldiers and his family.
Rodriguez and Bohn visited the “Home of the 4th Infantry Division” to discuss Army policies with Fort Carson leaders, visit with soldiers and inspect new installation facilities.
The FORSCOM leaders first attended the Fort Carson Warrior Transition Battalion Town Hall Meeting at the Special Events Center on post.
“The sacrifices you have made for this country cannot be overstated,” said Rodriguez, thanking the wounded warriors for their outstanding sacrifices in defense of the nation.
The next morning, the FORSCOM command team ate breakfast with Fort Carson company-grade officers, and met privately with Maj. Gen. Joseph Anderson, commanding general, 4th Inf. Div. and Fort Carson, and Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Stall, the division’s senior enlisted leader.
Anderson and Stall then escorted their guests to Fort Carson Range 109 via UH-60 Black Hawk, where soldiers of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., conducted M1A2 Abrams tank gunnery training.
Rodriguez and Bohn discussed the training program with 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment commander, Lt. Col. Larry Burris, and senior enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Troy Henderson. The FORSCOM leaders also took the opportunity to present coins to outstanding “Iron Knights” soldiers.
Bohn said he was impressed with the battalion’s training plan.
“It’s good to see these troops on the line training to standards,” Bohn said. “We have to make sure these young soldiers are proficient in every aspect of what they do.”
Upon returning to the installation, Anderson and Stall took the FORSCOM command team on a tour of Fort Carson facilities, concluding with lunch at the Robert C. Stack Jr. Dining Facility.
During the meal, the FORSCOM and 4th Inf. Div. leaders met with the family of Staff Sgt. Kenneth Mayne, a 1st BCT soldier who was killed during an attack on his unit while deployed to Iraq in 2008.
The leaders accompanied Mayne’s parents, Dan and Michelle Benavidez, to a Fort Carson rally and the ceremonial first mile of their 1,080-mile to honor their son’s service and sacrifice.
“Thank you for being here,” Michelle Benavidez told the FORSCOM leaders. “It means so much that you would come out and support our son and our cause.”
Concluding their tour, Rodriguez and Bohn bid farewell to Anderson and Stall at the Colorado Springs Airport and returned to Fort Bragg, N.C.