Col. G. Scott Taylor is new Fort Irwin garrison commander

FORT IRWIN, Calif.--In a morning ceremony on July 15 at the National Training Center's garrison headquarters, Col. G. Scott Taylor assumed command of the Fort Irwin from Col. Jonathan P. Braga.

Braga leaves Fort Irwin after serving here for two years, for his next assignment in Special Operations at Fort Bragg.

Scott will now lead the garrison's 75 Soldiers and 2,000 Department of the Army civilians, and contractors who operate, maintain, or oversee housing, family and community services, education, recreation, utilities, fire and security services for the National Training Center's 5,000 active duty military, 7,500 military family members and 7,000 civilian workforce who support the training of another 50,000 military personnel who come to NTC for rotational training 10 months during the year.

Scott comes to Fort Irwin from Korea, where he previously served as the 2nd Infantry Division's Assistant Chief of Staff, G3 for the past two years.

After passing the Fort Irwin guidon from Col. Braga to Col. Scott, Mr. Thomas J. Schoenbeck, Installation Management Command's Central Region Director, said of Braga, "Jon led this installation team through power outages and a hundred-year flood. And like our resiliency programs for our Soldiers, this installation and the people here demonstrated resiliency by bouncing back."

Schoenbeck continued, "He dealt with the good, the bad and the ugly…I never heard panic in his voice. ... Jon, your leadership and accomplishments here at Fort Irwin will stand the test of time."

Schoenbeck then introduced Fort Irwin's new garrison commander. "Like Jon, Scott Taylor is a proven combat leader. He led our Soldiers during three deployments into harm's way. He is ideally suited to lead the Fort Irwin garrison team in supporting the priorities and requirements set by the senior commander, Brigadier General Joseph Martin, and the Installation Management Command priorities set by Lieutenant General Halverson."

In his farewell remarks, Braga gestured to the large, brown and white sign in front of the garrison headquarters, saying, 'In a few moments, my name will come down from that sign right there. And it reminds me of …the great statesman Pericles, who once said, 'What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments but what is woven into the lives of others.' I know I speak for Melanie, the kids and I that this garrison team, this community, will always be woven into our lives."

In his first address to his new command, Col. Taylor noted his roots in the Fort Irwin and local community. "As an Army brat, this place is as much a home to me as any other place I've lived--in fact, I graduated from Silver Valley High School…I truly feel this is a homecoming and look forward to reconnecting with the fantastic community that does such great work partnering with and supporting the National Training Center," Taylor said.

"In fact, it was during a trip to "The Box" with my Dad almost 28 years ago that convince me that I wanted to become a tanker," Taylor said, in referring to himself as an Armor officer.

Taylor was born in Columbus, Georgia and was raised as an "Army brat" on or near Army installations in several states, including Fort Irwin, where his father served as commanding general of the National Training Center.

After receiving his commission after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1992 with a B.S. in international relations, Taylor began his Army career at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he completed the armor officer's basic course, the dismounted armored scout's course and ranger school. His first duty assignment as an armor officer was at Fort Stewart, Ga., with the 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized). After reassignment in 1996 to Fort Hood, Tex., Taylor commanded A Troop and later, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1-7th Cavalry Division. He was then reassigned in 2000 to Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany as an observer/controller. After attending the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, he returned to the 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Tex., in 2004, from where he deployed to Iraq in 2006 during Operation Iraqi Freedom II and again during "the Surge" in Iraq.

Upon redeployment, Taylor served as executive officer and deputy commanding officer of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. He then was assigned to Fort Carson, Colo., where he served with the 4th Infantry Division. Later, as a battalion commander, he led the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment during its deployment to Basra, Iraq in March 2010, returning all 1,100 of his Soldiers home to their families the following March.

After attending the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Penn., where he earned his second master's degree in national security studies, Taylor served on the Army Staff in the Pentagon as deputy chief of contingency operations. He was then assigned to Korea in 2013, serving as the 2nd Infantry Division's assistant chief of staff for operations, before assuming command of U.S. Army Garrison, Fort Irwin.

Col. Taylor's awards include the three Meritorious Unit Awards, six Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, and two Army Achievement Medals. He is authorized to wear the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger tab, The Army Parachutist Badge, the Army Air Assault Badge, and the Army Staff Identification Badge.