ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Col. James O. Fly Jr. became the 46th commanding officer of the U.S. Army Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center (RIA-JMTC) at a ceremony held today on Rock Island Arsenal.
Col. Fly took command of RIA-JMTC from Col. Craig S. Cotter, who had served as commanding officer since Aug. 2007. Col. Cotter has been reassigned to the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command headquartered in Daegu, South Korea., where he will serve as deputy commander.
Maj. Gen. Kurt J. Stein, commanding general TACOM Life Cycle Management Command, presided at the ceremony. In a traditional that was performed for the first time on the field adjacent to the manufacturing center, Maj. Gen. Stein passed the flag of command from Col. Cotter to Col. Fly. With his position as commanding officer established, Col. Fly then passed the flag to RIA-JMTC's Deputy Commander, Thomas M. Bunch for safekeeping.
Maj. Gen. Stein praised Col. Cotter's wife, Brenda, for her work with Army families and with the community, and praised the Cotter's for the work they had done in the Quad City area.
Maj. Gen. Stein also called to the stage, 2nd Lt. Phillip D. Cotter, son of Col. Cotter. 2nd Lt. Cotter was commissioned as an officer in May following his graduation from Duke University's ROTC program. Maj. Gen. Stein presented 2nd Lt. Cotter with a coin and thanked him for volunteering for his country.
Maj. Gen. Stein remarked that Col. Cotter had accomplished much in his three years in command. "Col. Cotter has been extremely successful in making the center's capabilities better known both inside and outside the government," Maj. Gen. Stein said. "Not only better known, but better performing and better looking too."
"This is all part of his efforts to make RIA-JMTC a great place to work," Maj. Gen. Stein continued. "Craig's determination to improve the center's ability to produce top notch results in quality, delivery and schedule has increased the arsenal's visibility and attractiveness to potential customers and business partners."
Maj. Gen. Stein then welcomed Col. Fly to the arsenal by stating, "The Army always gets it right. They take away a great leader from an organization, but always replace that person with another outstanding officer and that is the case when it comes to Col. Jim Fly."
In his remarks to a crowd of more than 700, Col. Cotter spoke about the people he had the honor to work with for the past three years.
"We have a workforce here that is second to none. They do the impossible every day and make it look easy," Cotter said. "Our employees are the cornerstone of this arsenal and have been for almost 150 years. You would be hard pressed to find another military organization with more than 6 generations of family that have been employed here. And there is so much pride. People here are proud of their jobs. They don't just punch in and punch out. They care."
Col. Cotter also echoed the importance of the arsenal staying sharp and running as a smart business.
"I want everyone, inside and outside of the Arsenal to know that this isn't just another colonel level command in the Army, this isn't a sustainment brigade, this isn't a depot," Cotter said. "This is a manufacturing Arsenal unique in the Department of Defense and one that must operate as a business. We must continue to challenge the status quo; we must continue to look for opportunities to improve what we make and how we make it."
Both Col. Cotter and his wife commented in a letter handed to guests about what the Quad City community meant to them (full letter can be found - http://bit.ly/cotterletter).
"Words cannot begin to express how hard it is to have to leave this amazing community that we have been so privileged to be a part of for the past three years," the Cotters said. "This community and the people who have embraced us have given us not just a glimpse into the sense of family, community pride and love of God and Country that residents of the Quad-Cities hold dear, but you also have rocked our world with your dedication to our nation's men and women who serve in harm's way."
Col. Fly began his remarks by extending greetings to special guests from the community and thanking the Quad Cities area for the warm welcome it had given him and his wife, Ella. The Fly family has been stationed in the Quad Cities for a year now, while Col. Fly served as deputy commander to the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade in Kuwait for 6 months.
"Ella, the boys and I arrived here last summer after a year at the Naval War College in Rhode Island," Col. Fly said. "We have come to appreciate both the friends and acquaintances we've made over the short time we've been here. And look forward to calling this home for the next few years."
Col. Fly talked about how he saw firsthand the important capabilities Rock Island Arsenal brings to the fight in the field.
"I have personally witnessed the effect the Arsenal can have on the battle field from the fielding's of the first HMMWV Armor kits in Northern Iraq in 2003, responsive support to the light artillery of the 25th ID during its deployment in Afghanistan in 2005, and to the FRAG 5 and OGPK armor fielding's I witnessed in 2006 when I returned to Iraq as a Battalion Commander," Col. Fly said. "There is no doubt that the lives of many soldiers have been saved by the innovation and manufacturing skills resident on this small island in the Mississippi."
Col. Fly is the 46th commander of RIA-JMTC. He came to RI-JMTC from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, where he served as the deputy commander of the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Prior to that, he served as the deputy G3/5 Operations and Plans for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Colonel Fly enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1982, where he served for four years. He was commissioned as an Army officer in 1986 following his graduation from the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. After completing the Infantry Officer Basic Course, he was assigned as a platoon leader in the 1st Armored Division in Bamberg, Germany.
His combat service includes assignments with the 1st Armored Division in Operation Desert Storm and the 1st and 3rd Corps Support Commands in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In addition to his bachelor's degree in fisheries biology from the University of Washington, he holds masters degrees in adult education from Kansas State University and strategy and planning from the U.S. Naval War College. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
Colonel Fly is married to his wife Ella and has two sons.
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