FORT SILL, Okla., Aug. 1, 2019 -- It has been over 25 years since Col. Anthony Lugo was here as a young lieutenant, but Fort Sill and the Fires Center of Excellence welcomed back the long-lost officer as their new chief of staff at a July 30 ceremony in front of McNair Hall.
"It's good to be back," Lugo told the crowd. "It's a great day to be a Fires Soldier, here at historic Fort Sill, Oklahoma."
Maj. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, commanding general of the FCoE and Fort Sill, pointed out one unusual aspect of Lugo's resume -- a long list of overseas assignments and combat deployments.
"I suspect that there are other deployments and assignments overseas that he's had that just won't fit in there. I've never seen that before. And as his family can attest, the Lugos have definitely done their time overseas, they've definitely done their time supporting Tony when he has gone forward, as he just has for the last several months, in Headquarters Resolute Support in Afghanistan. That war still goes on. It's still very important, and Tony's role as a senior adviser to the minister of defense was absolutely critical," Shoffner said.
Lugo is also the first field artilleryman in the history of the Army to have commanded an Infantry Brigade Combat Team (2nd IBCT, 25th Infantry Division) and one of only six artillerymen to have commanded a Brigade Combat Team. "Why did they choose him? Because he was the best man for the job," Shoffner said.
As chief of staff, Lugo will be the FCoE staff's principal adviser and confidant. He will direct and coordinate activities of the staff. He will digest and glean impacts on everything the staff does.
"The chief is charged with figuring out the 'so what?' -- what does it mean when we're faced with a problem?" the general said.
Lugo was present with his wife, Kimberly, and three of their four children, daughters Chandler Katherine, 17, and Riley Elizabeth, 16, and their younger son, Jackson, 9. Their older son, Matthew, 21, could not attend because he is a senior at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
Lugo said if it wasn't for his family he would not be here today. He sent a special welcome to his father, friend and Redleg, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Louis Lugo, a veteran of conflicts in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam and the first Gulf War.
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