FORT GORDON, Ga. -- The outgoing commander of the 782nd Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion, Lt. Col. David Chang, talks about his past two years of command as a "tale of two quotes."
Chang's first brigade commander, Col. Joe Hartman, told him "…get all of your teams to FOC (Full Operational Capacity), on time, or you're fired," and his current commander, after receiving in-briefs about the organization a year ago, summed up his thoughts in three letters, "Wow."
Chang relinquished his battalion command to Lt. Col. Matthew Lennox, in a ceremony presided over by Col. Dave Branch, commander of the 780th MI Brigade, and Command Sgt. Maj. Sheldon Chandler, the brigade's senior enlisted leader, on Barton Field Parade Grounds, June 2.
Chang, who has been with the Cyber Branch since its inception in September 2014, has served with the same organization since 2008 -- initially, with the U.S. Army Network Warfare Battalion, which became the 744th Military Intelligence Battalion, the precursor to the 780th MI Brigade, and finally as the 782nd MI Battalion commander. He leaves command, deflecting praise to his Soldiers, Civilians and the Families that supported them. He departs, leaving behind a legacy of firsts -- firsts in the Army and firsts in the Services.
"The 782nd is the first command in any of the Services across the United States Cyber Command to bring all teams to fully operational capacity," said Branch. "This means that 782nd has 14 cyber teams across Georgia, Maryland, Texas and Hawaii that are prepared to counter our adversaries in cyberspace."
The unit also established a co-located operations and capabilities development element. "This combined force is quickly becoming the recognized model for how best to execute rapid, agile cyberspace operations," said Branch. "These efforts are informing our Army leaders and Sister Services of what is truly possible in the cyberspace domain."
Branch went on to say the battalion conducted synchronized cyber operations in support of the warfighter mission on the battlefield, earning the unit a reputation of success. He said that some of these operations cannot be discussed publicly due to their classification.
The new battalion commander for 782nd, Lt. Col. Lennox, is very well known in the cyber community. Lennox was an aide to the Commander of US Cyber Command / Director of the National Security Agency and was in charge of a National Mission Team. In his previous assignment, he was the deputy operations officer (J3), Army's Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber.
"As I've been watching from the Joint Force Headquarters, the 782nd continues to grow and mature in operational effectiveness," said Lennox. "This young battalion has already made a great name for itself and made important contributions to the [forward] forces. I'm truly honored to join the team today."
Chang is heading off to the Senior Service College, the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., in July.
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