Command Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Grinston is a "Big Red One" Soldier and he will always be a Big Red One Soldier.
The field artillery Soldier wrapped up his second assignment with the 1st Infantry Division on Sept. 25 during a Victory with Honors ceremony at Fort Riley. During the event -- a traditional farewell or welcome reserved for the division's senior leaders -- Grinston relinquished responsibility as the Big Red One's top enlisted Soldier to Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph C. Cornelison.
During his farewell remarks, Grinston talked about deploying to Iraq 10 years ago as the senior noncommissioned officer for Battery C, 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment. It was during that time when several of Grinston's Soldiers died next to him in a firefight.
Grinston later parted ways with the division, which was then based in Germany. When coming back in 2013 to the Big Red One, which returned to Fort Riley in 2006, Grinston was pleased to see the names of his fallen Soldiers etched into stones in Fort Riley's Victory Park. His office window, he noted Sept. 25, looked out over the park and stones.
"So when I say I am a Big Red One Soldier and I will always be a Big Red One Soldier, it's going to be because of those Soldiers that have gone before us and those Soldiers that are no longer with us," he said of veterans and the fallen. "And for those of you that have led Soldiers in combat, you know what I mean."
They are like family, Grinston continued, and "when you watch one of those leave, you will never forget that" and that unit will always be family.
Grinston also took the time to thank members of the Fort Riley, Army and local communities who not only helped him get to where he was, but also made his and his family's time in Kansas a "phenomenal experience."
"Any time you leave an organization -- especially a great organization like the 1st Inf. Div. -- it's extremely hard to leave," he said after the ceremony. "All the things that we have done, not only in the last two years, but the last almost 100 years of what the 1st Inf. Div. has done, it brings in a lot of emotions."
From October 2014 to July, Grinston and Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, then the 1st Inf. Div. commander, led the division headquarters on a deployment to Iraq. The Big Red One formed the core of Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-Iraq, which was responsible for advising and assisting Iraq's security forces and providing training to newly built Iraqi army units as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
Grinston showed true moral courage by speaking the plain truth to the most senior military leaders and American elected officials visiting Baghdad, "even when it would have been easier to remain silent and let them draw rosy conclusions about the capabilities of our partners," said Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., who took command of the 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley in early August.
The U.S. Army is the premier fighting force in the world, Grigsby said, because its NCOs made all the difference. A person had to experience being mentored by a strong NCO to truly understand how life changing it could be, he added.
"Every good officer can point to a host of great NCOs who shaped them as they moved through their careers," he said. "I know that I would not be where I am today with the example of calm, common-sense leadership that my NCOs showed me. Command Sgt. Maj. Grinston is the example that all leaders should aspire to."
Grinston and his family are on their way to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, where he will serve as the senior NCO for I Corps.
Cornelison comes on board as the 1st Inf. Div.'s 24th senior noncommissioned officer. The 25-year infantry Soldier is from Tunnel Hill, Georgia, and previously served as the top enlisted Soldier of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas.
This is Cornelison's first assignment at Fort Riley, and he said after the ceremony that it was "a privilege to be part of the premier infantry division on the planet -- the Big Red One."
"It is truly an honor to stand before you as 'Danger 7,' the senior noncommissioned officer of an outfit with such a rich history and great reputation," he said. "It is an awesome privilege that I do not take for granted and a responsibility that I do not take lightly."
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