Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division gathered at Sills Field May 27th to bid farewell to its former commander and welcomed a Hawaiian Native as its new leader.
Col. Walter E. Piatt relinquished command to Col. Richard C. Kim, who was raised in Hawaii and will now command the Bronco brigade. Piatt has served as commander of 3rd BCT for the last three years, during which time he successfully led the Broncos in their most recent deployment to the Iraqi province of Salah a Din
"Broncos, in the dark days of past deployment, when most would have thought the situation hopeless, you did not retreat. You moved forward. You applied lethal force with surgical precision, and where you found despair, you applied compassion. You won the peace and then transitioned home with honor," said Piatt of his Soldier's recent deployment.
Piatt's predecessor, although born in Korea, was raised in Hawaii. He graduated from the University of Hawaii and was commissioned in May 1988. He has served multiple combat tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Kim is married to Un Hui and has two daughters and one son. Kim is pleased to be back in Hawaii and to take command of the Bronco brigade, leading them into their tour to Afghanistan, slated for next Spring.
"It's good to be home," said Kim, as he took the podium at Sills Field, to greet his new brigade and bid Piatt and his family farewell.
Piatt and his family have been stationed here at Schofield Barracks for seven years, but will now move to northern Virginia with his family to attend Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
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