FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Aug. 18, 2014) -- Gen. Mark A. Milley took charge of the Army's largest command, Friday, as his predecessor, Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, relinquished the U.S. Army Forces Command colors and departed for duty in Washington, D.C., to be the 35th vice chief of staff of the Army.
By accepting the colors bearing the distinctive blue, white and red disk that makes up the U.S. Army Forces Command, or FORSCOM, insignia from Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Gen. Mark A. Milley became the 21st commanding general of FORSCOM.
FORSCOM, which prepares conventional forces to provide a sustained flow of trained and ready land power to combatant commanders in defense of the nation at home and abroad, has direct authority over continental United States-based conventional units of the active Army, and training and readiness oversight of much of Army Reserve and Army National Guard.
"Since World War II, FORSCOM has been at the forefront of ensuring our Soldiers, leaders and units were ready when needed; and today, this responsibility is no different," said Odierno. "The training, prepping and readiness of more than two-hundred seventy-thousand active-component Soldiers and partnership with over three-hundred-fifty thousand Army National Guard and nearly two-hundred thousand Army Reserve Soldiers is daunting. No other command influences as many Soldiers as Forces Command."
In his remarks, Milley, 56, a native of the Boston area, who comes to FORSCOM headquarters from his latest assignment as the commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, said FORSCOM would continue to provide trained and ready forces to meet the needs of the nation.
"There are some who think wars can be won from only the air or sea, but those people are very wrong. To deter an enemy, to assure an ally, and to win a war, requires well-trained, constantly read, superbly led, lethal and adaptive ground forces; and our job in FORSCOM, as it has always been, is to train mobilize and provide those forces to the nation when the the nation calls," said Milley. "And, as we have seen all too often, the nation will call; and when it does, our task is to be ready for any mission, anywhere, anytime.
Prior to the change of command, in an intimate gathering in the Kerwin Conference Room of Marshall Hall, Odierno installed Allyn as the Army's 35th vice chief of staff. He then promoted Milley to the rank of general in the atrium of Marshall Hall -- the command's headquarters complex shared by Headquarters, U.S. Army Reserve Command.
In his last remarks to an audience in his final of several assignments at Fort Bragg, Allyn expressed appreciation to those he said were most deserving of recognition.
"Most importantly," Allyn said, "I want to thank those this ceremony truly recognizes - our Soldiers, civilians and Army families. Truly, they are the strength of our nation and our Army, and they make the sacred honor of leading a pure joy. They continue to bear the brunt of the nation's service with grace, humility, confidence and professionalism."
As the FORSCOM Commanding General, Milley leads FORSCOM's subordinate units, located across the continental United States, which include five headquarters led by lieutenant generals -- U.S. Army Reserve Command, 1st Army, I Corps, III Corps and XVIII Airborne Corps -- and nine division headquarters, led by major generals.
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