Longtime friends swap command of 165th

The two friends met years ago in the 82nd Airborne Division, and Friday, they met again under different circumstances: Col. Thomas J. Sheehan assumed command of the 165th Infantry Brigade from his longtime friend Col. Bryan Hernandez during a ceremony Friday at Fort Jackson's Victory Field.

Post commander Brig. Gen. Roger Cloutier called the day bittersweet - on one hand, the post was welcoming a new commander to the Fort Jackson team, but it was bidding goodbye to a Family who had been a post staple.

While welcoming Sheehan, Cloutier said the Lightning Brigade was known throughout the Army for the quality of the Soldiers it produced. Therefore, a "sacred burden" of training now rests squarely on the shoulders of the new commander.

Cloutier called Sheehan, whose latest duty was with U.S. Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, "a consummate infantryman with exactly the right skills" to lead the brigade.

"Let no Soldier cry from the grave, 'If only I had been trained; if only my leaders had trained me,'" Cloutier cautioned. "We owe them our very best, and that is what we are here to do."

During his remarks, Cloutier lauded Hernandez's tenure in command. When the president "draws a line in the sand," he uses bayonets wielded by Soldiers, Cloutier said. The majority of Soldiers who carry the bayonet are trained at Fort Jackson, he said, "and by the men and women of the 165th."

Hernandez said the brigade would be in the excellent hands of a Soldier he had known since the two were battalion operations officers in the same brigade at Fort Bragg. They have crossed paths many times since, he said, and he was elated to hear that Sheehan would take over the 165th.

"When I saw he was taking the brigade … I was extremely happy," Hernandez said, referring to Sheehan as a true leader and commander.

Sheehan said in a short speech, the first of his tenure as 165th commander, that his first inclination was to "zonk" the formation, but he would keep his remarks brief. The term refers to commanders' ordering their troops to "zonk" out or go home and go back to bed.

Sheehan, husband of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robin Sheehan and father to Jack, said "command is a privilege" and one he didn't take lightly. He promised to put "his heart and soul into everything" he did as unit leader.

Hernandez and his Family - wife Christiane, and sons Brooks and Carson -- will depart Fort Jackson for what Cloutier called the "wooded hills of Carlisle, Pennsylvania," where Hernandez will attend the Army War College.