Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Steven Eaton | SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Brian C. Harris, Commander of the...... read more read more
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PUERTO RICO MILITARY RESPONSE
COMMANDED BY ALABAMAN
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A Tucker resident and retired assistant police chief for DeKalb County became the senior military officer in Puerto Rico on Monday. He is now in charge of all federal land forces deployed to the island. His duty is to partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and support the government of Puerto Rico in relief efforts following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Maj. Gen. Brian C. Harris is an Alabama Army National Guard officer serving a three-year tour on active duty as the Commander of Task Force 51 at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Task Force 51 is U.S. Army North’s rapid deployable command post for defense support of civil authority, meaning it provides military assistance to civilian agencies responding to emergencies. A devastating duo of storms in the last two-and-a-half months brought Harris to Texas and then Puerto Rico to manage the U.S. military operations.
“We are on an island,” said Harris of the biggest challenges encountered in Puerto Rico. “Typically we can drive and that makes re-supply easier. Now we need to do everything by air and sea.”
Harris, a two-star general, is now responsible for thousands of U.S. troops operating over scores of miles of terrain. In previous military assignments he commanded troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and the continental United States.
In 2005, Harris commanded Afghanistan’s Regional Command Advisory Group – an assortment of approximately 200 U.S. soldiers and 2,000 Afghan soldiers spread across nine Afghan provinces.
“It was the best job I ever had in the Army,” said Harris. “It was a high-risk, adventure assignment.”
A year after returning from Afghanistan Harris deployed to Iraq to be the commander of Camp Taji, wherein resided 16,000 soldiers, plus an additional 4,000 civilians and contractors.
For the last few years, Harris focused on military response to civil emergencies including Super Storm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey, as well as the storms that brought him to Puerto Rico this fall.
“I am a traditional guardsman,” said Harris. Throughout his military career he has maintained civilian employment, while simultaneously completing all the training required of any soldier – active duty or part-time.
Between military deployments, Harris served as a police officer in Georgia. He spent 23 of his 28 years in law enforcement with the DeKalb County Police Department. Growing up in Tucker and attending the now-converted Shamrock High School, Harris eventually commanded the Tucker Precinct for DeKalb County Police Department.
“Since the 9-11 attacks it was a challenge to transition back and forth from active duty to the police department,” said Harris, who counts himself fortunate that his fellow police officers and supervisors at the department fully supported him and the military.
“We make order out of chaos,” said Harris of the military’s role in disaster response. Of course, as a police officer he responded to plenty of other disasters including tornadoes, ice storms and floods in DeKalb County.
Harris initially enlisted in the Alabama Army National Guard as a mortar infantryman in 1982. Upon graduating from Georgia State University in Atlanta, he commissioned as an infantry officer. He served in a variety of infantry assignments including airborne, light and mechanized. During Operation Noble Eagle he commanded a mechanized infantry battalion, a unit of approximately 450 riflemen supported by armored troop-carriers, defending critical domestic sites immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Now the unit he commands, the Contingency Command Post for the Joint Task Force Land Component Command, consists primarily of military support units such as helicopters, medical providers, engineers, and logisticians.
”We are in support of the state’s Adjutant General, FEMA and the governor . . . The active duty Army elements should be the last in and the first out because we are always in support,” said Harris.
It is a good thing the unit he commands is the first out. Harris is scheduled to marry a fellow DeKalb County Police Officer in 20 days.
Story by Maj. Brett Walker, Executive Officer, 65th Press Camp Headquarters
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2017 17:41 |
| Story ID: | 255357 |
| Location: | PR |
| Web Views: | 396 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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