Photo By Spc. Osama Ayyad | The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) honors outgoing deputy commanding general...... read more read more
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FORT DRUM, N.Y. - The 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum’s outgoing deputy commander general of operations, Brig. Gen. Mark J. O’Neil, received the Legion of Merit during a Mountain Salute ceremony in his honor Jan. 21, 2015, at the Magrath Sports Complex in Fort Drum, New York.
Fort Drum and 10th Mountain Division (LI) Commanding General Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend differed the honors during the ceremony to O’Neil, who received an 11 round cannon salute during the ceremony.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to help lead some of the finest Soldiers in our Army,” said O’Neil. “I learned a lot, oversaw some awesome developments and am looking forward to new challenges as (I move) to Fort Leavenworth.”
Representatives from each battalion and brigade at Fort Drum were present to celebrate O’Neil’s service in the 10th Mountain Division (LI) and to wish him well with his future position as the deputy commander general of training at the Army’s Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
O’Neil, the outgoing DCGO, was instrumental in the training and preparation of the 10th Mountain Division and its brigades before their deployments to Afghanistan, said Townsend.
“He is a good man,” said Townsend. “There are only a handful of officers that I trust implicitly to keep an eye on everyday operations, and (while deployed in combat operations) I trusted him to ensure everyone of our units and everyone of our Soldiers was properly sourced to accomplish the mission and come back alive.”
As Fort Drum's DCGO, O'Neil worked with units before, during and after combat operations. He even personally deployed to Fort Polk, Louisiana, to help guide 3rd and 4th Brigade Combat Teams during their Joint Readiness Training Center exercises.
“My job was made much easier due to the exceptional team (that) I worked with on a daily basis,” O’Neil acknowledged.
Although O’Neil is leaving America’s Light infantry Division, his legacy of tough and realistic training will stay.
“He has left an imprint in the way Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division does training,” said Townsend. “It will remain for years to come.”
Leaving a path of innovation in training is fitting for O’Neil’s next duty position as the DCGT at the CAC in Fort Leavenworth, where he will have the opportunity to mold the leaders of the future and make sure that they are properly equipped, said Townsend.
After the ceremony, family, friends and other Fort Drum community members formed a line to congratulate O’Neil and his wife, Wendy, and wish them farewell.
During the ceremony, Townsend aptly said, “(O’Neil) is a forever-mountaineer.”
| Date Taken: | 01.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2015 13:28 |
| Story ID: | 152954 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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