FORT BRAGG N.C. - Col. Stephen G. Smith relinquished command of the 18th Field Artillery Brigade to Col. John L. Rafferty Jr. in a change of command ceremony, June 11, at the Main Post Parade Field.
"This change of command is about the organizational strength to transcend any individual leader; this change of command is not about Col. Smith or Col. Rafferty; it is about the symbolic representation of change," said Maj. Gen. Jefforey A. Smith, the deputy commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, who presided over the ceremony.
Smith assumed command of the brigade in June 2013. Smith led the brigade through its transition and realignment from the 82nd Airborne Division to a brigade separate in the XVIII Airborne Corps, which consisted of deactivating the 1st Battalion, 321st Field Artillery, the Army's only airborne M777A2 howitzer battalion. Additionally, Smith provided oversight for the transition of the 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment from the M777 howitzer to the M142 (HIMARS) High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Under the leadership of Smith, the brigade has focused on readiness, training leaders, and ensuring its units were ready and capable to coordinate and provide long range, lethal and timely fires to the XVIII Airborne Corps and its subordinate divisions and on order for its special operations partners. Smith is slated to be the next chief of staff of the XVIII Airborne Corps.
Rafferty has served in Fort Bragg before and with the brigade command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Carlos A. Mendez. Rafferty commanded the 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment from February 2010 to June 2012 while Mendez served as the battalion command sergeant major.
Rafferty comes to the 18th Field Artillery Brigade from the Office of the Chief of Legislative Liaison in Washington, where he served as deputy chief to the House of Representatives liaison division before deploying to Kabul, Afghanistan as the legislative adviser to the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan.
"To the men and women of the brigade: Our mission continues," said Rafferty. "We will pursue the highest levels of combat readiness because we know it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when we will be called, and it is our duty to be ready to answer our nation's call."
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