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...Team (modular BCT) become its first commander. Do you think that Field Artillery officers should be eligible for Department of the Army (DA) selection to BCT commands?
A We must pick the most capable, qualified person to command our troops, regardless of branch. Branch designations should not be inhibitors for BCT commands. So the answer is, "Yes."
Like the Chief of Staff [of the Army] said, we in the 82nd Airborne Division develop "Pentathletes." We take people who already arc proficient in their basic branches and have excellent skill sets and begin developing them into Pentathletes--we give them additional challenging responsibilities that broaden their career scopes.
For example, we take young FA officers who already have commanded a battery very successfully and give them second commands of headquarters companies in infantry battalions or troops in RSTA [reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition] battalions. We've taken an Artillery major who already had served successfully as a Div Arty S3 and on the division staff and made him a BCT XO [executive officer]. We made Major [Promotable Jeffrey M.] Jeff Sanborn an infantry brigade executive officer for a year because he was the most qualified person I had to serve in that position. And DA has endorsed my confidence in Jeff by selecting him to command an Artillery battalion.
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Our 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment [3-319 AFAR], the Gun Devils, deployed to Afghanistan to work for the 173rd Airborne Brigade and did an absolutely superb job as a ground maneuver force--in addition to providing indirect fires. [Lieutenant Colonel Bertrand A. Ges] Bert Ges [Commander of 3-319 AFAR] trained the Redlegs in one of his [105-mm] batteries as 155-mm gunners, and they conducted fire missions with M198 155s the entire year in Afghanistan. He also employed a 105-mm battery in Afghanistan and integrated infantry units into his battalion task force. He is a very competent officer who happens to be Artillery by...
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