1st Multi-Domain Effects Battalion Welcomes New Commander

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – In a ceremony held on May 22, 2025, at Watkins Field, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Mroszczyk passed the command of the 1st Multi-Domain Effects Battalion (1MDEB) to Lieutenant Colonel Tiane Garner. The change of command marks the end of a remarkably successful 24-month tenure for Lt. Col. Mroszczyk and the beginning of a new chapter for 1MDEB.

Presiding over the ceremony, Colonel Charles Kean, 1st Multi-Domain Task Force (1MDTF) Commander, lauded Lt. Col. Mroszczyk’s transformative leadership. “The talent that is represented in the formation that stands before you today is truly amazing,” Col. Kean stated, “I know you have poured yourself into creating the conditions for each one these soldiers to pursue their potential.”

Lt. Col. Mroszczyk’s command has been defined by a relentless drive to translate emerging concepts into tangible capabilities. Arriving in May 2023, he spearheaded the refinement of the battalion’s focus on reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) in direct support of long-range precision fires. This culminated in the creation of the Army’s first organic sensor-to-shooter kill chain capable of engaging moving maritime targets, a capability Col. Kean emphasized as “allowing this Task Force to see, sense, make sense, and understand our adversary, ourselves, and the environment.”

This progress is particularly significant in the context of the Indo-Pacific, where the Army is tasked with countering our adversary’s anti-access/area denial (A2AD) capabilities.

“The Multi-Domain Task Force is not just a concept—it is a set of capabilities that must be artfully applied in multiple domains to create the intended effect. And at the heart of that capability lies 1MDEB,” said Kean.

Beyond the sensor-to-shooter kill chain, Mroszczyk oversaw the expansion of the battalion from 250 personnel to a full battalion, developed the unit’s annual training guidance and tactical Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and led the U.S. Army’s first battalion-level all-domain home station training exercise, Static Focus III – achieving the highest levels of readiness in the battalion’s history. He also operationalized MDEB capabilities across the First and Second Island Chains, participating in key exercises like Balikatan, Salaknib, Resolute Dragon, and Orient Shield. Furthermore, he led the battalion through the transformational employment of decentralized space capabilities, a groundbreaking achievement in multi-domain operations.

Mroszczyk will now transition to the Space Force Senior Service College at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington D.C.

Taking the reins, Lt. Col. Tiane R. Garner, a leader with a distinguished career, brings a wealth of experience to the role. Kean expressed confidence in her ability to continue to build upon the foundation laid by her predecessor. “I was recently asked when 1st MDTF’s build phase will be complete and I can honestly tell you that we will never be a finished product. The environment is changing too quickly, technology is moving too fast, if we stay stagnant, we will quickly find ourselves irrelevant,” he said.

“I am certain that Tiane is the right person, at the right time to accelerate our learning and to build the readiness required to meet any challenge. In the Task Force we know all too well that you can’t strike what you can’t see or sense, and you can’t properly affect what you don’t understand.”

1MDTF is an Indo-Pacific assigned, theater-level unit. MDTFs are maneuver elements that synchronize long-range precision fires and effects in all domains to neutralize adversary A2AD (anti-access and area denial) networks. 1MDTF’s proven innovation, agility, and lethality has led the Army to direct five full MDTFs in strategically significant locations worldwide.