Home » Archives » "New Fort Lewis chief named"

New Fort Lewis chief named

Apr- 7-2007 » Filed Under: General Military

MICHAEL GILBERT; The News Tribune

The top Army general in Alaska, a paratrooper with combat experience in Afghanistan and Grenada, has been named to become the next commander at Fort Lewis, the Army announced Friday.

Maj. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby, Jr., 52, is a Michigan native and West Point graduate who for two years has led the Army’s buildup in the 49th state and managed the flow of thousands of troops from posts there to Iraq and back again.

President Bush nominated the commander of U.S. Army Alaska on Friday for a third star and assignment as commanding general at Fort Lewis and I Corps, the Army announced.

If the Senate confirms the appointment, Jacoby will become the 62nd commanding general in the local post’s 90-year history. The Fort Lewis command is also the unofficial senior leadership position among the heavy concentration of military installations – Army, Navy and Air Force – in the Puget Sound region.

He will succeed Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, who has been assigned to take over leadership of the Multi-National Transition Security Command in Iraq – the effort to train and equip Iraqi military and police forces.

A change of command ceremony has been scheduled for April 29.

Army officials in Alaska could not be reached for comment Friday.

As it has been for Dubik, the war in Iraq will be at the forefront of Jacoby’s tenure at Fort Lewis.

The post has one Stryker brigade – the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – 10 months into its scheduled yearlong deployment to Iraq, and another – the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division – on its way there now, a month ahead of schedule as part of the “surge” of U.S. forces into Iraq. [...]


Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements