‘Ghost Brigade’ holds change of command ceremony

Col. David Foley hands the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team colors to Maj. Gen. Thomas James, the 7th Infantry Division commander, as he relinquishes command of the Ghost Brigade June 8, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The 1-2 SBCT held a change of command ceremony at Watkins Field and bid farewell to outgoing commander Col. David Foley and welcomed the incoming commander Col. Jasper Jeffers. 

By Maj. Kelly Haux

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Ghost Brigade,” 2nd Infantry Division welcomed a new commander at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., with a change of command ceremony at Watkins Field Jun 8, 2017.

Col. Jasper Jeffers assumed duties as the commander, replacing Col. David Foley as the commander of the Ghost Brigade.

Maj. Gen. Thomas James, the 7th Infantry Division commander, described Jeffers as a man equal to the task of carrying on the legacy of the Ghost Brigade and Jeffers arrives at command with combat experience from Iraq, Afghanistan, North and West Africa as well as other locations throughout the Middle-East.

Col. Jasper Jeffers gives a speech June 8, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., after assuming command of the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. The 1-2 SBCT held a change of command ceremony at Watkins Field and bid farewell to outgoing commander Col. David Foley and welcomed the incoming commander Col. Jasper Jeffers.

“His predecessor, Col. Foley, aggressively built mission command,” said James, “which allowed the Ghost Brigade team to attend two decisive action rotations at the National Training center within 10 months, enhanced readiness through deploying formations to exercise Yudh Abhyas in India and on JBLM, plus simultaneously building interoperability with partnered nations in the Pacific Region through two Pacific Pathways iterations.”

For Foley, the change of command ceremony was the opportunity to reflect upon the lineage of the 1-2 SBCT as well as the brigade’s accomplishments.

“Over the course of this command,” said Foley, “I’ve watched with admiration as these ghost Soldiers have not only evolved into a contemporary Stryker brigade combat team, but also conducted countless operations, administrative requirements, and training initiatives in support of a multi-faceted operational strategy that justly encapsulates the strength of this Stryker warfighting formation.

“They have developed strong community partnerships and a health of the force campaign in support of both a comprehensive leader development strategy and the indoctrinated tenets of a values-based learning organization,” Foley added. “All of these major accomplishments could not have been realized without the strong support of the magnificent officers, non-commissioned officers and Soldiers in the bayonet division.”

Foley highlighted what he believes is the single most important element of the formation: the Soldiers and their development as leaders of character.

“The Soldiers of this brigade are the best the Army has to offer,” Foley said. “They are empowered leaders of character who possess the moral courage to do the right thing, who operate on disciplined initiative, fight and care for each other….and they do not quit.

“They emulate the Officer/NCO team as the centerpiece for accomplishing tasks to standard and for developing individual and unit strength of character,” he said. “Their physical and mental toughness is the cornerstone for ensuring competent, confident leaders, for inspiring a winning spirit and for achieving the kind of readiness essential to providing lethal and adaptable force projection in support of future national security requirements.”

This brigade change of command is the most recent in a series of changes within the subordinate battalions in the unit. Five of the six battalions that make up the Ghost Brigade changed command within recent months, with the final battalion scheduled to change in the near future.

Leaders discuss lessons learned in the Pacific Theater

Story by Maj. Kelly Haux

 

Maj. Stoney Portis, executive officer for 1-23 Infantry, speaks about the importance of building relationships for logistical and maintenance considerations when traveling overseas, May 31, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Portis was taking part in a Key Leader Symposium to discuss lessons and key strategies learned during Pacific Pathways 2017. (U.S. Army Photo by Maj. Kelly Haux)

 

From February to May 2017, Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry, developed their combat and interoperability skills in a series of joint bilateral exercises with allies in Thailand, Korea and the Philippines.

In order to expand upon the experience gained during these exercises, collectively known as Pacific Pathways, senior leaders of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Ghost Brigade, held a Key Leader Symposium, May 31, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to discuss key practices developed by 1-23 Infantry during Pacific Pathways.

“It’s about how we see ourselves now and where we see our formation, the Stryker Brigade, in the future” said Col. David Foley, the 1-2 SBCT commander and host of the KLS. “Our purpose is to examine the lessons learned from Pacific Pathways and how best to resource our formation.”

Pacific Pathways is an innovative training deployment or “pathway” for Army forces, linking existing exercises with partner-nation militaries and demonstrates U.S. commitment in the Pacific Region. 

Col. David Foley (facing away), commander of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, speaks with Lt. Col. Teddy Kleisner, commander of 1-23 Infantry, about the importance of training frequency to build skills into muscle memory, May 31, 2017, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Both Foley and Kleisner were taking part in a Key Leader Symposium to discuss lessons and key strategies learned during Pacific Pathways 2017. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Kelly Haux)

The overall assessment of Pacific Pathways was that it enabled the Soldiers of the Ghost Brigade to develop skills on the asymmetric battlefield similar to the situations they might encounter in the Middle East or in Africa. Not only did the training opportunity enable the Soldiers to grow in their tactics and skills but to learn from other nations’ professional military forces, increasing the reputation of the US Army as a premier fighting force.

During Pathways, military tactics was a common language among allied nations and an avenue of overcoming a perceived language barrier.

“A squad attack is a squad attack,” said Lt. Col. Teddy Kleisner, commander of the 1-23 Infantry. “Of course there are some nuance differences between how it is carried out between U.S. and partnered nations, but essentially it is an easy common language between Soldiers.”

The common terminology, along with the frequency of live fire maneuver training during Pacific Pathways allowed a strong muscle memory to be developed, which in turn creates better Soldiers and leader, Kleisner said.

Kleisner further explained interoperability with allies is much more than using the other nation’s military hardware. In some cases it requires keeping plans simple, assigning language-capable liaison Soldiers with radios to the right leaders, or using “old school” signal solutions such as signal flags to ensure everyone can communicate effectively.

Attendees at the leadership symposium later collaborated efforts and described what they learned when they participated in group break-out sessions, which were designed to develop strategies to enhance the Ghost Brigade’s future training and campaign plans.

Additionally, brigade staff sections presented future training opportunities, discussed training objectives, challenges, possible risks and concerns which would provide details for future combat training center rotations.

In his closing remarks, Foley praised the participants for their active engagement in the conversation about the Ghost Brigade’s future and how each of them has contributed to the unit’s success.

"This has really been a great opportunity for us to actively participate in discussions about what we’ve learned, and where we’re headed collectively as an organization,” Foley said. “We don’t look at this as an end state for we’re barely scratching the surface of what we can do as we empower, develop and grow our leaders and prepare for the future.”