Fort Stewart and the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division will officially welcome two leaders at retreat today at 4 p.m. at Marne Garden.
The two honorees are the assistant division commanders, Brig. Gen. Patrick Donahue II who will handle maneuver duties, and Col. Thomas Vandal, who will be in charge of support.
Commissioned a second lieutenant fresh from West Point in 1980, Donahue is a newcomer to Fort Stewart - it's one post he has never served at during a career that has carried him to Korea, Fort Bragg, Fort Benning, The Presidio, Innsbruck in Austria, the school of government at Harvard, the Pentagon, Maxwell AFB, Ala., Carlisle Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Afghanistan and Iraq.
He comes to Fort Stewart from a tour with the vice chief of Army staff at the Pentagon.
Vandal is a more familiar figure at Fort Stewart, he arrived in time for Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch to introduce him around before the general headed for Texas and a third star in July.
Vandal is waiting for the formalities to be completed before he pins on his own brigadier general's star. Vandal is already what the Army calls a "colonel promotable," approved for one-star rank.
Both assistant division commander slots are normally filled by brigadier generals.
Vandal comes to Fort Stewart from a Pentagon assignment with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. An artillery officer, Vandal was commander of the 75th Field Artillery Brigade when it deployed to Iraq.
One of the two deputy commanders traditionally is oriented toward Hunter AAF in Savannah. When the new command team settles in, Vandal will spend about 60 percent of his time at Hunter. He will be in charge of the division's aviation assets, most of which are at Hunter.