FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Before a group of leaders and supporters from the post and local civilian community, Lt. Col. Jeffery Hambrice assumed command of the U.S. Army Dental Activity at Fort Riley at a change of command ceremony Aug. 30.
Col. Daniel Convey, who had been serving as interim commander of DENTAC-Fort Riley since February, bid farewell.
Among the official delegation was Col. Michael Roberts, commander of the Central Regional Dental Command, Fort Bliss, Texas.
In attendance was Brig. Gen. Patrick Frank, 1st Infantry Division deputy commanding general, and Col. John Melton, Irwin Army Community Hospital commanding officer.
Sgt 1st Class and acting 1st Sgt. Cesar Quintana, senior dental noncommissioned officer of DENTAC, were also part of the ceremonial unit.
Chap. (Capt.) Joseph Wingo, chaplain for IACH, provided the invocation.
The presentation of a gift and flowers to Ladan, the spouse of Col. Convey, and their two children, Perle and Aliyeh, was performed by Staff Sgt. Marshell Knighten of DENTAC.
Sgt. Akeem Williams, also of DENTAC, presented a gift and flowers to Chris, the spouse of Hambrice.
"I know this will be an exciting time for you," Convey said to Hambrice in his brief remarks. "You could not have picked a better unit."
In his remarks, Hambrice said, "It's going to be a privilege to command such fine Soldiers."
After the ceremony, Hambrice praised the professional environment of the unit he was going to command.
"The DENTAC (at Fort Riley) is a very well-organized smooth-running machine that is very impressive on first view," Hambrice said. "Sometimes you'll come into a unit that is kind of scrambling and not very cohesive, but this group is very cohesive."
Hambrice added that division leadership has stressed readiness in its initial conversations with him and he will follow that guidance.
"The only thing that matters right now is readiness and they (previous DENTAC leadership) kept the readiness immaculately high," Hambrice said.
As far as where he wants the DENTAC to go during the time of his command, Hambrice said not much would change.
"Our job is to support the Soldiers and this division and to make sure they're ready," he said.
"That's what we do," Hambrice said, adding that, ultimately, when the Division is called upon, it has to be ready.
"And we have to be able to do our piece to make that happen," he said.
Meanwhile, Melton said he looked forward to Hambrice's command, and praised Convey's performance.
"He's a phenomenal leader and oral surgeon," Melton said of Convey. "He did great things in ensuring the overall readiness of our division."
Convey will not be leaving Fort Riley, but will return to Irwin Army Community Hospital and serve as officer in charge of the Oral Maxillo-Facial Surgery Clinic.
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