FORT HOOD -
Dozens gathered in front of III Corps headquarters on Fort Hood for an assumption of command ceremony, Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Mark A. Milley got a heroes welcome as he took command of Fort Hood and III Corps. General David M. Rodriguez introduced Milley during the hour-long ceremony.
Milley relinquished command of the 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y., to Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend during a change of command ceremony Dec. 3.
Fort Hood's new leader, who had previously never stepped foot on the post, said he was excited to take command of "The Great Place."
Milley said his first priority, as commander, is to prepare for combat operations and have the troops at Fort Hood ready for any call at any time.
"The other side of that coin though, is making sure we always take care of our soldiers and our families, so that is right up there with it and you can't have one without the other, they are inextricably linked," Gen. Milley said.
Besides his top two priorities as commanding general, he said he would also have some personal challenges to face as well.
"Personally I've never been to Fort Hood, so I've got to learn Fort Hood so that will be a challenge for me personally. It is not only ‘The Great Place' it's also a big place. So 50,000 troops, a lot of square acrage of training area, lots of communities around here, lots of retirees that depend on Fort Hood, lots of civilian employees, etc. So I've got to learn that, that's complex in and of itself," Gen. Milley said.
The general will hit the ground running as he prepares to send soldiers to Germany for training exercises and other missions.
Congressman-elect Roger Williams, from District 25, expects Milley to shine at the leadership position and plans on making sure he gets the support from our nations capital.
"Now there are some issues politically on which way we have to take our military. I believe we need to have the strongest military in the world and our young men and women need to have the greatest equipment in the world, so that is what I am going to be focusing on," Williams said.
