5th Sqdn., 15th Cav. changes command

Lt. Col. Andrew Koloski replaced Lt. Col. William Thigpen as the commander of the 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry Regiment, in a change of command ceremony June 27 at Brave Rifles Field.

“We say goodbye to a great command team in William and Tonja Thigpen and welcome to our team another great Soldier — Lt. Col. Andrew Koloski and his wife, Kymberli,” said Col. David Thompson, the commander of the 194th Armor Brigade and reviewing officer for the ceremony.

Thompson said he had no doubt Koloski would make the squadron even better.

“(Koloski) brings with him a breadth of experience, most recently as the professor of military science at Duke University,” Thompson said.

Koloski also served as the executive officer of the 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, in the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

“I know that these troopers will be well-served by yet another great commander over the next two years,” Thompson said.

“Throughout our Army’s history, commanders who were faced with unknown enemy situations have looked across their formations and cried ‘Scouts Out!’ — confident that their reconnaissance Soldiers would retrieve the information they required,” Koloski said.

“Since 1987, this squadron has been cashing the checks on that confidence by providing well-trained Cavalry troopers to the entire Army. It is a privilege and honor to take command of such a proud and distinguished unit.”

Thompson said the past two years have marked changes for the Army and for the squadron.

“We know all too well the challenges associated with reorganizing and moving under BRAC law,” he said. “And I’m here to tell you that this unit got this done in outstanding fashion.”

Thompson said under Thigpen’s command, the unit trained while reorganizing and preparing to move to Fort Benning.

“As the Army’s only one-station unit training outfit for scouts, they did not have luxury of standing down their operations, moving and then ramping back up,” he said. “They maintained the quantity, and more importantly, the quality of training despite the challenges associated with moving the entire organization, in troop-sized formations from Kentucky to Georgia.”

Thigpen thanked the people he worked with while serving as the commander and said the ceremony was a new beginning as the ceremony wasn’t about him.

“It is about the great formation in front of us — the Soldiers who allow guys like me to serve,” he said. “May God bless our Soldiers serving in harm’s way — the 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry and the United States of America.”

Thigpen’s next assignment will be as deputy commanding officer of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas.

This story was originally published July 6, 2011 at 10:24 AM with the headline "5th Sqdn., 15th Cav. changes command."