The Third Infantry Division passed two milestones Friday: The division colors - just back from Iraq - were uncased, and the ribbon was cut on the new division command and control building.
The new 3rd ID headquarters building was dedicated in honor of Lt. Col. Keith L. Ware. Ware earned the Medal of Honor while serving with the 3rd ID's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, near Sigolsheim, France, on Dec. 26, 1944.
In March 1968, Ware went on to serve as the commanding general of 1st Infantry Division. He was shot down while observing and commanding his units from a helicopter near Loc Ninh on Sept. 12, 1968. Ware was the first Army general officer to die in combat in the Vietnam War.
The uncasing of the division's colors is the traditional symbol that the division is in residence again. The Army traces the importance of units' colors back to the days before modern battlefield communications when soldiers would follow the colors forward into battle. The colors symbolize the presence of the commander and their uncasing followed division commander MG Rick Lynch's return on June 2.
Although now only ceremonial, a unit's colors are carried and guarded by specially selected soldiers.
As soon as the colors were removed from their olive drab case, another streamer was attached to the many the flag already bears. The new, yellow streamer is a symbol of the division's service in Iraq, its third tour there.
Although the commanding general and the division staff have returned from Iraq, as has the division's 1st Brigade Combat Team and elements of the headquarters and Special Troops Battalion, Lynch was careful to note that the 2BCT, the 4BCT, the Sustainment Brigade and the Combat Aviation Brigade remain at their wartime stations.
"They are in my prayers every day," Lynch said.
Moving from Marne Garden to the new division headquarters nearby, Lynch said, "I feel like a tourist on my own installation" because of the many changes during his 15-month absence.
Before the new command-and-control --"C2" -- building, elements of the headquarters command were scattered around more than a dozen buildings on post. The new three-story headquarters puts them all under one roof.
Lynch described the old HQ building as functional, but said, ""What I have now is a much more capable headquarters."
Friday's events did not go unnoticed in the higher echelons of the Army. Gen. Charles Campbell, one of the Army's 12 four-star generals and in charge of Fort Stewart higher headquarters, was present to speak and to help cut the ribbon on the new building.
Campbell praised soldiers who are willing "to do the difficult and dangerous work of a civil society, combating those who are hateful and hostile to everything Americans hold dear."
Campbell, who took his place amid "Ruffles and Flourishes" and the "General's March" from the division band and a 17-gun salute, said Iraq would be a far different place than when the Dog-faced soldiers left it.
The new headquarters building is, of course, constructed to provide a high level of security and most details of its construction remain unknown.
The new 3rd ID headquarters building was dedicated in honor of Lt. Col. Keith L. Ware. Ware earned the Medal of Honor while serving with the 3rd ID's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, near Sigolsheim, France, on Dec. 26, 1944.
In March 1968, Ware went on to serve as the commanding general of 1st Infantry Division. He was shot down while observing and commanding his units from a helicopter near Loc Ninh on Sept. 12, 1968. Ware was the first Army general officer to die in combat in the Vietnam War.
The uncasing of the division's colors is the traditional symbol that the division is in residence again. The Army traces the importance of units' colors back to the days before modern battlefield communications when soldiers would follow the colors forward into battle. The colors symbolize the presence of the commander and their uncasing followed division commander MG Rick Lynch's return on June 2.
Although now only ceremonial, a unit's colors are carried and guarded by specially selected soldiers.
As soon as the colors were removed from their olive drab case, another streamer was attached to the many the flag already bears. The new, yellow streamer is a symbol of the division's service in Iraq, its third tour there.
Although the commanding general and the division staff have returned from Iraq, as has the division's 1st Brigade Combat Team and elements of the headquarters and Special Troops Battalion, Lynch was careful to note that the 2BCT, the 4BCT, the Sustainment Brigade and the Combat Aviation Brigade remain at their wartime stations.
"They are in my prayers every day," Lynch said.
Moving from Marne Garden to the new division headquarters nearby, Lynch said, "I feel like a tourist on my own installation" because of the many changes during his 15-month absence.
Before the new command-and-control --"C2" -- building, elements of the headquarters command were scattered around more than a dozen buildings on post. The new three-story headquarters puts them all under one roof.
Lynch described the old HQ building as functional, but said, ""What I have now is a much more capable headquarters."
Friday's events did not go unnoticed in the higher echelons of the Army. Gen. Charles Campbell, one of the Army's 12 four-star generals and in charge of Fort Stewart higher headquarters, was present to speak and to help cut the ribbon on the new building.
Campbell praised soldiers who are willing "to do the difficult and dangerous work of a civil society, combating those who are hateful and hostile to everything Americans hold dear."
Campbell, who took his place amid "Ruffles and Flourishes" and the "General's March" from the division band and a 17-gun salute, said Iraq would be a far different place than when the Dog-faced soldiers left it.
The new headquarters building is, of course, constructed to provide a high level of security and most details of its construction remain unknown.