Story by the 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FORT RILEY, Kan. - Monday, Oct. 26 is not a day Brig. Gen. David Petersen will soon forget. On a day that usually earns the most complaints from the average working American, Petersen got a phone call from Maj. Gen. Vincent Brooks, asking him to consider stepping in as the rear commander of Fort Riley and the 1st Infantry Division as the division headquarters deployed.
"I asked if I could have some time to think about it, and he said 'how about 24 hours'" Petersen said.
Twenty-three hours later, Petersen was at Fort Riley to talk with Brooks. After all, Petersen said, if he was going to consider such a drastic move, he should probably at least see the post. In short order, Petersen had taken the position.
"I saw this as a great opportunity that had never been done before by a traditional guardsman," Petersen said. "The most difficult part of coming here was telling my commander that I was leaving. That was really tough."
The 35th Infantry Division, of which Petersen was attached to, is a National Guard Division headquartered at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., with personnel from around the region. Prior to coming to the Big Red One, Petersen was an assistant division commander of the unit, and worked a civilian day job as the deputy adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard. Even though his past military experience was extensive, Petersen said it was still a shock to the senses to lead a division and an installation from the rear.
"The sheer magnitude of what goes on at Fort Riley is enormous," Petersen said. "It's a very active FORSCOM post with units deploying and redeploying and resetting all the time."
The 1st Inf. Div. and the subordinate units that Petersen was responsible for include eight brigades, spread across three different states and is usually run by a major general who has two brigadier generals to assist him. The nearly seamless transition between Brooks and Petersen at Fort Riley is a testament to the interoperability of the Army's active and reserve forces.
In the year that the 1st Inf. Div. Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion has been deployed, the operational tempo at Fort Riley never slowed. Petersen has overseen 21,000 Soldiers and the mobilization of five brigades. In the course of 12 months, the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat returned from Iraq and began the reset process, while 1st Sustainment Brigade, the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team and 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team all trained and then deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan.
Petersen said his part as a senior trainer was a new experience for him, and proved to also be a challenging responsibility as the dates for units to leave the country shifted by as many as 100 days for one and more than a month for another.
"That was my summer - spent at the National Training Center and the Joint Readiness Training Center," Petersen said. "Our first three brigades stacked up on each other back to back as far as when they had to go through the collective training cycle."
Another accomplishment that Petersen is proud of is the conception of the Resilient Spouse Academy. The thought process for the academy began after a suicide in February; one month after Petersen took over as the division's rear commander. After some sensing sessions with spouses on several levels, Petersen and the Fort Riley Garrison command began to put together a five-day course for spouses, designed to assist them in a variety of areas of Army life.
"We're training our spouses in how to do things," Petersen said. "Sometimes it's something like finances - which can be a big stressor sometimes when a spouse is deployed. There's also two days of applied suicide intervention training. It doesn't make them experts, but it gives them tools to use - maybe not necessarily for their spouse, but with others they know as well, to listen and then help guide that person to more professional help."
The journey of the past year has been rewarding, Petersen said.
"What you get back from working with Soldiers - you just can't make it up in any way," Petersen said. "And the relationship that's here between the post and the Big Red One units and those outside in the communities is absolutely remarkable."
As his time at Fort Riley draws to a close, Petersen said he's not sure what is in store for him next. The process for National Guard general officers to obtain command is typically based more on an interview process than assignment. Petersen said he's been looking, but nothing is set in stone.
"No matter what, I hope to get at least one more military job," Petersen said. "And I hope I'm able to use the skills I've been able to learn here, wherever the next stop is.
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