Summertime brings new commanders to MTMC.Every summer, about one-third of the Military Traffic Management Command's port units receive new commanders. This summer, nine new officers assumed command--the most notable Brig. Gen. Barbara Doornink at the MTMC MTMC Military Traffic Management Command (US DoD) MTMC Mount Marty College MTMC Micros-to-Mainframes, Inc. (stock symbol) MTMC Middle Tennessee Medical Center (Murfreesboro, TN) Operations Center The facility or location on an installation, base, or facility used by the commander to command, control, and coordinate all crisis activities. See also base defense operations center; command center. , Fort Eustis Fort Eustis is a United States Army facility located in Newport News, Virginia. The post is the home to the Army Transportation Corps, and also home to the U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School. , Va. The change of command brings new energy and enthusiasm to unit activities and life. Policies are readopted, modified--or discarded. Commanders benefit, too. Finishing a demanding two-year tour of duty, they move to a variety of new challenges--in some cases, advanced schooling or a joint assignment; in other cases, retirement. The Aug. 24 change of command at MTMC's 842nd Transportation Battalion, Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a United States Army installation in Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and about one mile from the Atlantic Ocean. The base covers nearly 1,126 acres of land, from the Shrewsbury River west to Route 35, called Main Post. , N.J., was no different--save for the arrival of both a new commander, Maj. Mike Cashner, and a new organizational flag, the 956th Transportation Co. The ceremony on that Friday was the last duty day for Lt. Col. Joseph Crowley This article is about the U.S. Representative from New York. For the U.S. Representative from Illinois, see Joseph B. Crowley. Joseph Crowley (born March 16, 1962) is a Democratic politician from the U.S. , the outgoing commander. Crowley is en route to a new assignment with the Defense Intelligence Agency Noun 1. Defense Intelligence Agency - an intelligence agency of the United States in the Department of Defense; is responsible for providing intelligence in support of military planning and operations and weapons acquisition DIA , Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Southwest Washington, D.C. between the Potomac River and Interstate 295 and is conjoined with Naval District Washington Anacostia Annex that was established in July 1918. , Washington, D.C. Outgoing Commander "It's been a fast two years," said Crowley. It is 8 a.m. Crowley and Cashner are in the empty auditorium of the Communications & Electronics Command. With their feet and their hands, the two men practice the movements and motions that will bring a new flag and a new commander to the Fort Monmouth port unit. Crowley can be proud of his term of service. In the wake of the movement of the unit from Bayonne to Fort Monmouth, ties have been strengthened with the Port Authority of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of & New Jersey. One of the most positive of these actions is the authority's decision to extend a railroad track from Bayonne to Staten Island--providing MTMC with seamless intermodal service for rail cargoes going to the Howland Hook Container Terminal. Indeed, in the fall of 1999, a 10th Mountain Division task force rail move had to be unloaded at Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne--a closed installation. The Fort Drum Fort Drum may refer to:
Crowley will be honored for his work with the port authority. He will receive a Meritorious Service Medal The Meritorious Service Medal is a senior level military decoration presented to denote acts of non-combat meritorious service worthy of recognition. The following is a list of Meritorious Service Medals issued by various countries: Incoming Commander As the rehearsal proceeds, the enthusiasm of Cashner is obvious. Cashner's steps are broad and bold as he practices entering the auditorium to initiate the ceremony. He is not new to the command. Previously, he served as commander of a transportation company in the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division, at Fort Campbell, Ky. Everything about his demeanor shows a soldier ready to take charge. Pausing a moment, he assists Sgt. 1st Class Reginald Coonce, a Reserve soldier participating in the ceremony, with adjustments to his new beret. Cashner is a commander--and teacher. That enthusiasm was evident in February when MTMC held a weeklong session to orient its new commanders. Cashner's name was kept off the list--after all, it was reasoned, he was receiving valuable training at Command & General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Undaunted, Cashner worked the phones and negotiated an agreement with officers at the college, the Military Traffic Management Command A major command of the US Army, and the US Transportation Command's component command responsible for designated continental United States land transportation as well as common-user water terminal and traffic management service to deploy, employ, sustain, and redeploy US forces on a , and his branch specialty. It allowed him to attend the new commanders' training, and later, make up missed college classes. Later, when Cashner walked into MTMC Headquarters for the class, coordinator Mike Coppedge was stunned. "You are not supposed to be here!" said an amazed Coppedge. Reviewing Officer On Aug. 3, Brig. Gen. Doornink participated in her own change-of-command ceremony. Now she is officiating at such a ceremony at one of her new subordinate units. The Ceremony The ceremony proceeds with crisp, military precision. The 842nd Transportation Battalion flag is retired and cased; the new 956th Transportation Co. flag is activated. The audience members settle back in their seats. Final Thoughts The three commanders provide some individual reflections. "The re-engineering in the Military Traffic Management Command continues," said Doornink, referring to the development of the MTMC Operations Center at Fort Eustis. "The Operations Center will become the heartbeat of MTMC." Doornink praised the work of the Fort Monmouth unit. Accomplishments in the past two years, she said, included restructuring from a battalion to a company; participating in a dozen major missions; and reconfiguring a ship superstructure to accommodate a load--the M/V M/V Motor Vehicles M/V Motor Vessel M/V Merchant Vessel Express at Howland Hook Container Terminal on Aug. 9. Crowley said the 842nd flag would fly again at a MTMC port when it replaces the flag of the 596th Transportation Group, Beaumont, Texas. His proudest accomplishment, said Crowley, was modifying the unit's battalion structure to a company structure with a minimum of staffing impact. Cashner's inner thoughts formulated into words. "There is no other job in the Army I would want more than the job I am to begin today," said Cashner. The new commander has slowly assimilated into the new unit. For the past six weeks, he has been observing Crowley and the unit at work, listening and watching. "This is an amazing group of folks, willing and able to handle any challenge," said Cashner. Reception Participants filed outside. Most were heading to a change-of-command reception that was scheduled at the nearby Lane Hall social club. As the auditorium grew quiet, Sgt. 1st Class James Van Emburgh, the unit's top NCO NCO abbr. noncommissioned officer NCO noncommissioned officer NCO n abbr (Mil) (= noncommissioned officer) → Uffz. , carefully furled furl v. furled, furl·ing, furls v.tr. To roll up and secure (a flag or sail, for example) to something else. v.intr. To be or become rolled up. n. 1. the flag of the 842nd Transportation Battalion. "This is going out via FedEx to the Beaumont unit today," said Van Emburgh. Outside, sunshine bathed the morning. The air was pleasant and fresh--last night's rain had moved offshore. The day was wonderfully sunlit sun·lit adj. Illuminated by the sun. Adj. 1. sunlit - lighted by sunlight; "the sunlit slopes of the canyon"; "violet valleys and the sunstruck ridges"- Wallace Stegner sunstruck . The weekend would be a good one. Another prediction? An excellent tour-of-duty for Maj. Mike Cashner and the transporters of the 956th Transportation Co. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion