BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, September 13th, 2016 - The commander of 10th Mountain Division, Major General Jeffrey L. Bannister, and the commander of 1st Cavalry Division, Major General John C. Thomson III, conducted a Transfer of Authority ceremony on Bagram Airfield Tuesday, Sept. 13th at 8:45 a.m. The event marks the completion of the mission and the relinquishing of all duties and responsibilities from the Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), to their 1st Cavalry Division counterparts in support of the Deputy Commanding General, United States Forces Afghanistan (Support) and the Commander of the United States National Support Element.
The event took place on the USFOR-A (NSE) compound in the Summit Garden. Thomson additionally relieved Bannister of his duties and responsibilities as both the commander of Bagram Airfield and U.S. Task Force 10.
According to Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander, U.S. Forces -- Afghanistan, the 10th Mountain Division and the entire National Support Element team had the difficult task of taking the guidance from U.S senior civilian and military leadership in terms of U.S. troop levels and matching troop to task requirements across the theater to ensure continued capacity and capability in support of the train, advise, and assist mission as well as the continued U.S. counterterrorism mission. "Without the efforts of the entire USFOR-A team our Coalition partners and the Afghan security forces could not have continued to weaken insurgents and improve security and other vital government services to the people this last year."
The 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, N.Y., ends its seventh deployment -- six in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. The 10th Light Division was originally activated on July 15, 1943, at Camp Hale, Colo. The division was re-designated as the 10th Mountain Division on Nov. 6, 1944, and reactivated at Fort Drum, N.Y., in 1985 as a Light Infantry Division. The division served in Italy during World War II, contributing to the final surrender of German forces. Since reactivation, it has served in numerous multinational and joint operations, including Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. The Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division will return to Watertown, New York.
During the past year, it conducted over 3,100 combined and partnered patrols with Afghan teammates, managed a $2.5 billion dollar budget, reduced the amount of material in theater by thousands of individual pieces of equipment, created and managed the USFOR-A Posture the Force Line of Effort, and managed 1.3 billion worth of contracts, processed 3500 awards, and hosted over 150 distinguished Coalition and U.S. guest visits. "The real credit goes to the men and women of USFOR-A and their joint and civilian teammates at Resolute Support and around the country," said Bannister, commanding general of 10th Mountain Division.
"Working together with our Coalition and Afghan partners we have helped set the conditions to posture the force to ensure our teammates, who are doing the heavy lifting of training, advising and assisting; have the right equipment and forces on time every time."
The 1st Cavalry Division was formally activated on Sept. 13, 1921 at Fort Bliss, Texas. The Division's early duties included rough-riding and patrolling the Mexican border. From the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism, the 1st Cavalry Division and its brigades continued its tradition of service and excellence by deploying six times to Iraq in support of Operation Iraq Freedom and Operation New Dawn. These deployments would include engaging anti Iraqi and Al-Qaeda forces throughout the country, the first free elections in Iraq and providing training to Iraqi security forces and support to the people.
The 1st Cavalry Division and its brigades have deployed to Afghanistan four separate times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. With the 1st Cavalry Division Headquarters and elements of the 3d Cavalry Regiment now deployed to Afghanistan, the Division's remaining units take on new missions around the world. These areas included Europe, Korea, Africa and Cuba.
"We are very proud to be here today in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, supporting U.S. forces, NATO, and our other partners. Working together, we vow to honor the work of those that have come before us. The entire 10th Mountain team set a tradition of excellence that we will strive to continue to improve on," said Thomson, "I can't think of any better day to complete this transfer of authority than on the birthday of the 1st Cavalry Division. We all look forward to the hard work and challenges of sustaining our forces and helping set the conditions to allow the continued success of the Resolute Support train, advise and assist mission."
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