First Army Division East welcomes new command team

First Army Division East welcomed a new commanding general and command sergeant major during a ceremony in the Sadowski Center at Fort Knox Tuesday.

The outgoing commanding general, Maj. Gen. Todd McCaffrey, and his family bid farewell to the garrison and local community as he relinquished command to Maj. Gen. Terrence McKenrick and family.

Relinquishing responsibility of the unit was Command Sgt. Maj. Royce Manis, whose family welcomed the incoming command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Carl Fagan.

Hosting the ceremony was Lt. Gen. Stephen Twitty, commanding general of First Army.

"I often say that command of these divisions is the hardest job in First Army," Twitty said.

"Leaders like [Maj. Gen.] Todd McCaffrey and [Command Sgt. Maj.] Royce Manis ... along with the entire Division East team, have worked tirelessly to assist our reserve component partners in meeting their readiness goals in order to deploy and meet combatant command requirements throughout the world," he said of the outgoing command team.

"You have been the right leaders at the right time for this job -- and job well done," he added.

As McCaffrey took the lectern and addressed his formation one last time, he attributed the job well done to the efforts and talents of the outgoing command sergeant major.

"Command Sgt. Maj. Royce Manis is the most skilled Soldier with whom I have ever worked," McCaffrey said. "What's not reflected in his biography is his character, insight, deep professionalism and the concern for Soldiers he exhibits every day."

McCaffrey said that as he and Manis move on to a new assignment and retirement respectively, he knows the future of the organization is in great hands.

"There is no other officer and no other family to whom passing command is such a privilege," he said, noting that he and McKenrick have known one another for 35 years, stretching all the way back to their days at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

It's a long history cherished also by McKenrick.

"It's an incredible honor to take division command over from one of my best friends and the most professional officer I know," McKenrick said. "No one would have guessed 35 years ago when we were cadets that we would both have the good fortune to lead this great division."

Looking forward his new command, McKenrick said his last assignment as deputy commander of U.S. Army Central allowed him to see the results of the hard work First Army puts into training their reserve component partners for overseas operations -- hard work of which he is excited to be a part.

"I am humbled and excited to join the First Army team and continuing to improve our ability to prepare our Army's reserve component units for the challenges of the future," McKenrick said. "Lt. Gen. Twitty, thank you for this opportunity."