Photo By Michael Strasser | Maj. Gen. Gregory Anderson receives the guidon from Lt. Gen. Paul T. Calvert, deputy...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Sept. 9, 2022) -- The mantle of leadership for the 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum changed hands Sept. 9 when Maj. Gen. Gregory Anderson assumed command from Maj. Gen. (P). Milford H. Beagle Jr., during a change of command ceremony on Sexton Field.
Lt. Gen. Paul T. Calvert, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, officiated the ceremony, and he welcomed Anderson and his wife, Luzane, back to Fort Drum.
“Greg brings with him a wealth of operational experience, having served in conventional, special operations and joint commands,” Calvert said. “Greg is a known and respected leader across our force.”
Like Beagle before him, Anderson previously served as a deputy commander of the 10th Mountain Division. He also had an earlier stint at Fort Drum when he commanded 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, from February 2010 to May 2012. Following that, he served as commander of 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
His last assignment before division command was director of J-3 Operations/Cyber, U.S. Africa Command, in Germany.
“I’m filled with gratitude and humility to have been given another opportunity to serve Soldiers and families and to do so in a community that I have grown to love over the years,” Anderson said. “I have been given so much from this division and the North Country, and I fully recognize that I have been given another incredible gift – the opportunity to actually pay back now all that was given to me. This is an opportunity I fully intend to take advantage of.”
Anderson graduated with the Class of 1991 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he commissioned as an Infantry officer. Two of his sons are currently in the West Point Class of 2024, and were in attendance at the ceremony, along with a few of Anderson’s former classmates.
Anderson has served in leadership positions from platoon to brigade level, and he has deployed in support of operations in Haiti, Panama, Bosnia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“So much has changed in the three years since I was last assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, when we were a unit focused on Afghanistan and Iraq,” Anderson said. “The need for a strong 10th Mountain Division that is ready for any contingency or disaster is as pressing now as it has ever been.”
Anderson said that he is thankful for the leadership that Beagle provided during his command of the 10th Mountain Division to always focus on Soldiers and families first and to maintain a high level of readiness.
“I am honored to follow in your footsteps and move our division to the next summit,” Anderson said. “The Army has tasked us with building a division to fight and win against a full spectrum of threats, with an uncertain future and what promises to be not just a complex environment but a hostile environment.”
Anderson said the division’s ability to face future threats will require Soldiers to develop a mastery of basic skills where they can be employed anytime and anywhere without conscious thought. Second, he said units must build confidence in their formations – teams that believe and commit to one another and will not bend under duress.
“Thirdly, we must develop our leaders to think critically and act independently – to see and create, and then seize these opportunities,” he said. “As such, our 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum must always strive to remain an empowered team of offensive-minded, self-reliant, innovative and thinking professionals. Mountain Soldiers, you are charged to be masters of your craft.”
Anderson described 10th Mountain Division Soldiers as the standard bearers for the profession of arms – disciplined and committed to a greater purpose.
“To our Mountain Soldiers and our Mountain families, I cannot express my gratitude adequately enough for the service and sacrifice each of you make every day for our Army and nation,” he said. “You are the heart of this division, and I am honored to stand by you in formation once more.”
Anderson said that the division was originally created in 1943 to do what no other unit was capable of doing when they deployed to Italy during World War II.
“Our division’s legacy comes from hunters, skiers, outdoorsmen, mountaineers and climbers assembled from all walks of life to solve a pressing need,” he said. “In many cases, they built with their own hands the tools they needed to overcome the mountain they were tasked to climb.
“Nearly 80 years later, we are charged once again by our Army with another mountain to climb – to develop, innovate, create and build ways to defeat the threats we are going to face, and to do so in a foundation of physical and mental toughness and spiritual balance,” he continued. “We will always draw strength and inspiration from our forbearers, but make no mistake, the climb is ours to make. And it is a climb we will make as a team, and one we will readily accept.”
The Fort Drum community bade farewell to Beagle and his wife, Pamela, who will be leaving for Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he will command the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center.
“We often refer to this division as ‘blue collar,’” Beagle said. “It is the mentality and the Mountain Tough mantra that makes us unique. There are a multitude of things you do not question when it comes to the 10th Mountain Division. You can never question our readiness or our ability to do whatever our Army and nation needs us to do. I always like to say that this team does not wring their hands; they roll up their sleeves and get after it.”
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2022 12:33 |
| Story ID: | 428911 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 386 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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