Col. Mark T. Vande Hei, left, passes an SMDC mug to Lt. Col. Andrew R. Morgan as he assumed command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command NASA Detachment during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Hous...
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- Not all Army leaders wear stars, sometimes they lead while working among the stars.
Lt. Col. Andrew R. Morgan assumed command of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command NASA Detachment from Col. Mark T. Vande Hei during a ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston June 1. Vande Hei is retiring from active duty in September but is traveling on a mission to the International Space Station, or ISS, as a civilian astronaut for NASA in March.
"The ceremony is important to recognize because the NASA Detachment is an SMDC unit, just like all of the others in the command," said Brig. Gen. Gregory S. Bowen, USASMDC/ARSTRAT deputy commanding general for operations. "It is a very unique mission and the detachment is very small, but we need to remind the rest of the command that we have a unit in Houston, and we should all be very proud of what our Army astronauts are doing."
SMDC is the Army proponent for Functional Area 40, or FA-40, Space Operations Soldiers as well as the Army astronaut program. Army astronauts provide the opportunity for officers selected by NASA to serve as astronauts for exploration of space. Army astronauts help the Army define its requirements for the space program and enhance the Army's use of space capabilities. Ultimately, these Soldiers are Army ambassadors to NASA and the public.
"Col. Vande Hei has done an exceptional job as the detachment commander," Bowen said. "What many people don't realize is just how busy Mark is preparing for his upcoming flight to the International Space Station. Thanks to Mark's leadership, all of the Army astronauts are doing extremely well and the Army is very highly regarded by all of the NASA people in Houston.
"Those things are a testament to Mark's leadership," he added. "Also, Mark Vande Hei is the first FA-40 to be selected into the astronaut program; I hope his success will pave the way for other FA-40s to follow in his footsteps."
Vande Hei said there will not be a lot of changes when he retires. He said he will transition to serving as a civil servant astronaut rather than a military astronaut and continue training in preparation for launch in March.
"The best part of being the detachment commander is the people with whom I work and the sense of satisfaction I had in making sure that they were well taken care of," Vande Hei said. "The detachment is very small, but everyone in it is a highly trained professional who is determined and enthusiastic about their job. Frankly, they are also very fun to work with. The thing that I'll miss most about being the detachment commander is being in it. The detachment is a tight-knit family. Sometimes it is hard to let go.
"I'm extremely grateful for the support that we've received from SMDC," he added. "Our leadership has truly made us feel part of the team."
Bowen reiterated the importance of having a strong leader in charge of the detachment and how he believes Morgan is the right person to lead the Army astronauts.
"Lt. Col. Morgan is another exceptional leader, and I expect he will take the NASA Detachment to the next level," Bowen said. "Like all of our astronauts, Drew is an overachiever. That said, he is a Soldier first. Drew has worked very hard to help us get the word out across the Army on the current astronaut selection process that is ongoing right now.
"We had great success in the most recent NASA astronaut class, with 25 percent of the class being Soldiers," he added. "Drew wants to increase that percentage; a goal which I strongly support. The bottom line is that the transition has been seamless and I could not be more confident in Lt. Col. Morgan's ability to lead the detachment."
As Vande Hei relinquished leadership, he said the Change of Command was something spontaneous that Morgan and he thought up in a humorous moment. The detachment does not have a guidon, nor a tradition of doing a formal ceremony in the detachment. Vande Hei explained how he had an SMDC mug on his desk, so he passed it on to Morgan. Morgan has since started getting the previous detachment commanders to sign the mug and note the dates of their command.
"Our relationship is unique in that we have a structured Army chain-of-command where he was my commander and I was his executive officer," Morgan said of his role with Vande Hei. "But we are also peers in the sense that we are both astronauts and could be crewmates in space one day. He is a great mentor to me in many respects. I worked with Col. Vande Hei for two years before becoming his executive officer last year. He has prepared me very well to take on my new role. Except for the six months he'll be in space, he'll still be nearby if I ever have a question.
"I look forward to being the Army's senior active duty representative at NASA and promoting the great contributions the Army makes not only in space, but in service to our nation in general," he added.
Morgan said there are currently only 47 active U.S. astronauts, eight of whom are either active duty or retired Army officers. He added that four of these former Army officers will fly on the ISS in the next year, to include Vande Hei. The last ISS commander, retired Col. Tim Kopra just returned from space, and the current ISS commander, retired Col. Jeff Williams will remain in space until this autumn.
"I find that most Soldiers are surprised to learn about SMDC/ARSTRAT's extensive contributions to space programs," Morgan said. "They're even more surprised to learn about how well the Army is represented at NASA. I think that the unparalleled leadership and operational experiences we have in the Army make Soldiers highly successful astronauts.
"There have been less than 20 Army officers ever selected as astronauts and the overwhelming majority of them had aviation backgrounds," he added. "Col. Vande Hei and I are unique in that he was originally an engineer officer and later an FA-40 and I am a medical corps officer. It takes all types of backgrounds to make a successful astronaut team."
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