The new commanding general of the Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth visited Fort Riley on July 25, learning about the close relationship between the center and the 1st Infantry Division and speaking to "Big Red One" leaders about the importance of cultivating leadership within the ranks.
Lt. Gen. Michael Lundy assumed command of the CAC on June 1 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. CAC, a subordinate headquarters of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, is known as the "intellectual center of the Army," according to the Fort Leavenworth website.
"He's a great CAC commander," said Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley commanding general. "He's a proven warrior in combat."
Lundy led Soldiers in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, first as commander of 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, from June 2003 to June 2005 and again as commander of the 25th CAB, 25th Inf. Div., from June 2007 to October 2010. He also served as chief of operations for Joint Task Force Mountain, 10th Mountain Division, in Afghanistan from November 2001 to June 2002 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
"It's about combined arms maneuver," Lundy said of the CAC. "It can be a very Byzantine world over there that we work out of, and we've got a lot of different irons in the fire, but ultimately … what we're there for is really to make sure we deliver combined arms operations to the Army."
He said two essential components of those operations are training and leader development.
"That's the most important thing you should be thinking about in the operational Army," Lundy told a group of field-grade officers from across the Big Red One during a stop at Fort Riley's Mission Training Center. "If that's not the culture you're building, then you've got the wrong culture in your organization."
Lundy said that statement may sound trite, but it is not.
"If your words and deeds are aligned with that, then you're going to build a very effective, disciplined unit that's going to be focused on the right things," the CAC commander said. "It really does start down at the ground level on how we approach this, and where we're spending our time."
During his time on post, Lundy took an aerial tour of Fort Riley and had lunch at the newly reopened Cantigny Dining Facility.
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