Col. Jeremiah D. Pope, U.S. Army NATO Brigade commander, passes the Allied Forces North Battalion guidon to Lt. Col. Sean C. Raleigh during a ceremony June 26 at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium. Lt. Col. Joseph H. Johnson III transferred the battalion to Raleigh after the conclusion of a successful two-year command. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Albert Cartagena)

CASTEAU, Belgium – Allied Forces North Battalion bid farewell to Lt. Col. Joseph H. Johnson III and welcomed Lt. Col. Sean C. Raleigh during a ceremony June 26 at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

Johnson goes to the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.

Raleigh comes to AFNorth from Special Operations Command-Europe headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.

The battalion consists of about 500 Soldiers, civilian employees, and their families at 15 separate NATO organizations in 22 different locations across 13 countries.

AFNorth Battalion supports the NATO mission by ensuring individual Soldier and family readiness through training, logistics, and human resources support to include coordination of Administrative Agent execution to enable NATO formations in the implementation of SACEUR’s guidance for collective deterrence and defense.