ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- The U.S. Army's Joint Munitions Command hosted a promotion ceremony for Lt. Col. Eric E. Holliday, October 19, at its headquarters here.
Brig. Gen. Stephen E. Farmen, commander, Joint Munitions Command, began the ceremony by welcoming all the distinguished family, friends and Department of the Army teammates in attendance. He then provided a brief bio of Holliday's career and assisted the family in promoting the Army Reserve Detachment leader to the rank of colonel.
"Today, we celebrate Eric's promotion to the rank of colonel," said Farmen. "You have a right to very proud of Eric and everything he's accomplished. He is a true patriot and a true warrior."
Farmen said a Soldier's family and the Army make a team and "you don't get to be standing where Eric is if you don't have a great supporting cast. Congratulations on reaching this outstanding milestone in your career," he concluded.
Col. Holliday started his promotion remarks by recognizing his family, particularly his wife Teresa and his daughter, Erica and son, Thomas, who is currently a cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He also thanked his parents, Gretchen and Holly Holliday, and his in-laws, Georgie and Ronald Schroeder, who also attended the ceremony. Both families have a long tradition of military service.
Col. Holliday thanked the staff of the Army Sustainment Command, where he works full-time as a Department of the Army Civilian, and the staff of JMC, where he works as a U.S. Army Reserve Officer, for their support during his dual career. Col. Holliday has served both stateside and overseas as a Department of the Army Civilian and as a U.S. Army Reserve Soldier. He has served in the military for more than 29 years, and his deployments included assignments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Joint Guard and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The JMC Reserve Detachment supports various ammo missions both stateside and overseas. It currently has a staff of twelve Soldiers, who provide part-time support to JMC and its higher headquarters, the Army Materiel Command, during weekend battle assemblies and two-week annual training sessions. Col. Holliday serves as the executive officer for the detachment.
The JMC Reserve Detachment was established in September of 2009 and has provided a trained and deployable force, which offers a proven capability set of logistics, operations, planning, joint exercise support and ammunition mission support. The detachment is integrated into JMC Headquarters, JMC installations, and is routinely deployed to overseas locations for the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of the JMC mission.
"Col. Holliday grew our detachment to full strength, improved our ammunition knowledge, networked us to the greater ammunition community, and solidified our long-term support to JMC," said Col. Paul Walenesky, the detachment commander, prior to the ceremony.
In addition to growing the detachment, Holliday represented Col. Walenesky at multiple JMC mission events. With the promotion, he will share the Reserve Component officer-in-charge duties.
"Col. Holliday brings a wealth of logistical and ammunition management experience to the detachment," said Walenesky. "With his extensive network, our detachment is developing relationships with Army Reserve and National Guard ammunition and transportation units across the Midwest. We are using these relationships to enhance JMC missions."
"This is the Army affirming their faith in me that I can get the job done for a few more years," Holliday acknowledged in his remarks. "I'm proud to be in uniform and proud to serve my country."
The Joint Munitions Command manages a nationwide network of 14 industrial base installations throughout the United States. Its four core competencies are to produce, distribute, store and demilitarize Class V ammunition. It manages ammunition ranging from small-caliber rounds used by all military services to bunker-buster bombs used by the Navy and Air Force.
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