Wednesday, Jun. 08, 2011

Outriders welcome new commander

Lt. Col Daniel Cook III replaced Lt. Col. Mike Junot as commander of the 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, May 31 in a change of command ceremony at Building 5500 on Harmony Church.

“Lieutenant Colonel Dan Cook is well prepared to assume the command of the Outrider Battalion,” said Col. Ryan Kuhn, reviewing officer and commander of the 197th Infantry Brigade.

Cook’s last assignment was as a professor of military science at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn.

“I’m honored to be joining this battalion and look forward to earning the respect of the Outrider Soldiers,” Cook said.

Under Junot’s command, Kuhn said the successes of the Outrider Battalion included more than 500 Soldiers trained in the master gunner course, more than 1,500 trained in the mechanized leader course, 600 Soldiers trained in the Stryker leader course and more than 4,000 Soldiers trained on new systems at 16 different locations, including Kuwait.

“As you can see Mike Junot’s dedication to training our Army’s leaders and Soldiers is unmatched,” Kuhn said. “Mike is clearly one of the best small unit trainers in our Army. His battalion has led the way for the Army in producing Bradley master gunners, Stryker master trainers, and both mechanized and Stryker leaders that are right now leading their units in combat operations.”

Junot said the success of the battalion is attributed to the many commanders, first sergeants, NCOs, Soldiers and civilians in the battalion.

“This profession of ours is not complex — although sometimes we like to make it so. But it is indeed hard, and it takes hard men and women to ensure the defense of our nation, of our ideals, of our very Constitution,” he said.

Junot said change is a constant thing in the Army, but it is needed.

“I think the Army got it right when they decided to change out commanders and key leaders every couple of years or so — this rotation of new minds and energy in the command positions allows for sustained momentum of innovation and transformation,” he said.

After the ceremony, Junot deployed to Iraq with 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division as the brigade deputy commanding officer.