The 3rd Infantry Division on Fort Stewart will greet a new commander in the coming months.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff, announced Friday that Brig. Gen. James E. Rainey, who is listed as “promotable,” will succeed Maj. Gen. Mike Murray as commander.
In a Fort Stewart news release, Murray and Rainey are said to have known each other for many years.
“There’s no one I’d rather hand over the division colors to,” Murray said in the release. “I can think of no one more qualified than Jim to take the helm of the Marne Division. I know he will serve the soldiers, civilians and family members of the division well.”
Rainey is currently serving as the commandant of the U.S. Army Infantry School at the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence on Fort Benning. The 3rd Brigade of the 3rd ID also is on Fort Benning.
According to his biography on the Fort Benning website, Rainey was commissioned as an infantry officer through ROTC at Eastern Kentucky University in 1987. He graduated from the Army Command and General Staff College and the Army War College, and he has master’s degrees in advanced military arts and science and public administration from Troy University.
He served as a platoon leader and company executive officer in the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division and then as a rifle platoon leader and company executive officer in the 3rdBattalion, 75thRanger Regiment. He also was assigned as a Joint Chiefs of Staff intern in Washington, D.C., and after his battalion command, he served as the chief of War on Terror plans for U.S. European Command.
His awards include the Legion of Merit (two oak leaf clusters), Bronze Star (five oak leaf clusters), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (three oak leaf clusters), the Joint Service Commendation Medal (oak leaf cluster), the Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Expert Infantryman’s Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab.
Murray currently is serving in Afghanistan as the deputy commanding general-support for U.S. Forces Afghanistan. The Fort Stewart news release says that a date for the change-of-command ceremony has not been set, nor has Murray’s next assignment been announced.
“When the time comes to hand off the division, I have no doubt that he is the right man, at the right time, to carry on the high standards set by the 3rdID and Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield,” Murray said of Rainey.