Only a week after Erick came home, our battalion held a Change of Command ceremony. LTC Meyer stepped down as the battalion commander and CSM Cornelison stepped down as the battalion command sergeant major. The new battalion commander is LTC Lindsay, and the new command sergeant major is CSM Sharpless. These two men will be in charge of this battalion until the brigade officially shuts down and permanently cases the colors next summer.
Here are all the companies of the battalion in formation.
The company in the lighter color is Rear Detachment. They are the soldiers who supported the deployment from right here in Germany. They also cared for the families and communicated to the FRG's etc. They are wearing the normal Army uniform. Once the brigade colors (flags) are uncased in Germany, the rest of the soldiers will pack up their deployment uniforms and put back on the lighter ones. (I personally love the color and look of the darker deployment uniforms. I think it's a shame they can't wear them any more. But I don't think the Army is concerned about which uniforms I happen to find more attractive. Ha!)
Standing in front of the podium are LTC Meyer (outgoing commander), COL Bohnemann (brigade commander), and LTC Lindsay (incoming commander):
This is my favorite part, the symbolic passing of the colors. In this case, CSM Cornelison handed the colors to LTC Meyer who in turn handed the colors to COL Bohnemann. This symbolizes that CSM Cornelison and LTC Meyer are standing down as a command team:
Now COL Bohnemann hands the colors to LTC Lindsay. By accepting the colors, LTC Lindsay is accepting responsibility of the battalion. LTC Lindsay then hands the colors to CSM Sharpless, who is the keeper of the colors. LTC Linday and CSM Sharpless are the new command team. -- I'm a little disappointed in the bum crack that crept into this picture:
There. That's better. No cracks this time:
LTC Meyer saying his remarks and his goodbyes:
I was doing pretty good until he honored all the soldiers who had passed away by name. Then I cried:
After CSM Cornelison finished his remarks:
Pictures of the outgoing command team:
With company commanders and first sergeants. I love these guys!
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. John Meyer was a wonderful mentor to Erick. He taught Erick so much about leadership and how the Army works. He also gave us great advice on keeping both of us happy through the crazy "Army experience." I certainly hope we'll run into him again in the future. We probably will. The Army is a small world:
