FORT DRUM, N.Y. (June 4, 2015) -- Soldiers across 1st Brigade Combat Team gathered at Fort Drum's Sexton Field to bid farewell to Col. Frederick "Mark" O'Donnell, outgoing brigade commander, and to welcome Col. Scott M. Naumann as the new commander of the Warrior Brigade during a change of command ceremony June 2.
"As I stand in my final formation with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, I can't begin to tell you how rich and rewarding this experience has been," O'Donnell said. "There were no lows; there were no let-downs. There were some long hard days, but they have all been great days."
O'Donnell went on to thank Family Members, friends and fellow Soldiers for their loyalty and dedication to the unit.
"This potentially could be a hard and emotional day and it's not, and it's because we are handing this over to an absolutely phenomenal team," he said. "We're excited for them to have this opportunity to have the same experiences that we did."
O'Donnell may have left the brigade, but he did not go far, as he was selected to become the new chief of staff for the 10th Mountain Division (LI).
"It was a great year, and I'm thankful for the support and simultaneously excited to keep my 10th Mountain Division patch and join this amazing team in (the division headquarters)," he said.
Before arriving at the brigade, Naumann was a fellow at the Army War College at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
"Taking command is a great privilege," Naumann said. "While this ceremony marks my formal assumption of command, I know my leadership must ultimately be ratified in the hearts of the Soldiers standing before us."
The brigade ceremony was one of seven change of command ceremonies over the last two weeks that were battalion level or higher throughout 1st BCT.
"This brigade is very well-trained," Naumann said. "They just came out of the Joint Readiness Training Center down at Fort Polk, (La.), earlier in the year, and I was fortunate along with all of the new battalion commanders to be able to join the team and do some advise-and-assist training -- that specialized training that's going to help us with our mission when we link up with our Iraqi counterparts later on."
As the brigade readies for deployment, Naumann has expressed his confidence in success of the Warrior Brigade's upcoming mission overseas.
"The nation has repeatedly relied on units of the 10th Mountain Division to go where others dare not go," Naumann said.
"As the 1st Brigade Combat Team musters once again to answer the nation's call, this time with challenging missions to both sharpen our readiness for an uncertain world and to assist Iraqi Security Forces (in defeating) our shared enemies abroad, I'm superbly confident the Warrior Brigade will hold up the glorious history of the 10th Mountain Infantry," he added.
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