{"id":2548,"date":"2010-05-28T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=2548"},"modified":"2010-05-28T00:35:31","modified_gmt":"2010-05-28T05:35:31","slug":"3rd-special-troops-battalion-changes-command","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2010\/05\/28\/3rd-special-troops-battalion-changes-command\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Special Troops Battalion changes command"},"content":{"rendered":"

By U.S. Pfc. Christopher McKenna
\n<\/strong>3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Public Affairs<\/em><\/p>\n

\"TheForward Operating Base Salerno, AFGHANISTAN \u2013 May 25th marked a new era chapter in the history of the 3rd<\/sup> Special Troops Battalion, as command of the unit changed hands in a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Sarat, outgoing commander of 3rd STB, from Elizabeth, NJ, transferred the battalion command responsibilities to U.S. Army Lt. Col. Walter Smiley, from Oklahoma City, Okla.<\/p>\n

While Sarat\u2019s tenure was short, having begun in February, 2010, when the previous battalion commander had to return home to deal with a family emergency, his accomplishments did not go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

“Four months into combat, I have proven that I had made a good decision,” said U.S. Army Col. Viet Luong, from Fort Campbell, KY, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. “Paul Sarat worked tirelessly to build his team. Between Paul and Maj. Gen. Mullakhel, they have catapulted the [Afghan Border Patrol non-commissioned officer] Education System to a new level. They have improved ABP capacities through systems, accountability and great leadership.”<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Comprehensive plans for the border that will improve security, as well as commerce were also developed during Sarat\u2019s tenure as battalion commander.<\/p>\n

Relationships built thus far into the battalion\u2019s deployment are going to continue, as Smiley looks forward to the future.<\/p>\n

“I look forward to making [the brigade commanders] intent a reality and continuing the strong partnership with the 2nd Zone ABP,” Smiley said.<\/p>\n

\"Col.<\/a>Luong shares Smiley\u2019s optimism toward the future,saying the new battalion commander is more than qualified to continue the STB\u2019s movement in a positive direction.<\/p>\n

“Despite changing command in combat, I have no reservations about Lt. Col. Smiley assuming the mantle of leadership in this challenging, complex theatre,” Luong said. “He is a battle-hardened veteran of the Iraq War. He is a leader who has led from the front throughout his career.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lt. Col. Walter Smiley, the new Commander of 3rd Special Troops Battalion from Oklahoma City, OK, stands in charge of formation of his Soldiers during a Change of Command ceremony held at Forward Operating Base May 25. Smiley took charge of the battalion from Lt. Col. Paul Sarat from Elisabeth, NJ. (U.S. Army Photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Whitney Hughes, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Public Affairs)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By U.S. Pfc. Christopher McKenna 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Public Affairs Forward Operating Base Salerno, AFGHANISTAN \u2013 May 25th marked a new era chapter in the history of the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, as command of the unit changed hands in a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Afghanistan. U.S. Army Lt. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[198],"tags":[1463,2680,1238,1233,2681,2682,2683],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-F6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2550,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548\/revisions\/2550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}