New 82nd commander takes over

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Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin and Maj. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti finish inspecting the troops during the 82nd Airborne Division Assumption of Command Ceremony at Fort Bragg on October 1.


New 82nd commander takes over
By Estes Thompson - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 1, 2008 17:20:26 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A general who started his Army career in the famed 82nd Airborne Division said Wednesday as he took command of its 22,000 soldiers that the division’s future is in the Middle East: “The war on terrorism is far from over.”

Maj. Gen. Curtis M. ‘Mike’ Scaparrotti, 52, reviewed between 8,000 and 9,000 soldiers massed on a parade field after he assumed the commander’s post by accepting the division flag at Fort Bragg. The Logan, Ohio, native said the division has grown from 15,000 soldiers since he was a brigade commander, and remains made up of “the most lethal paratroopers in the world.”

“For the foreseeable future our business is getting them ready to go to the Middle East and be ready for anything unexpected,” Scaparrotti said in an interview after the ceremony.

Retired Michigan corrections employee John Sterzick of Lowell, Mich., attended the ceremony with his daughter, who is engaged to a lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne. “It gives me chills to look at them and feel we’ve got this kind of protection and dedication for our country,” he said.

About 8,000 paratroopers from the 82nd’s 1st and 4th brigades are scheduled to deploy to Iraq next year. The division’s 3rd Brigade will leave for Iraq in November. Its leadership is focused on training and equipping the units and “looking after the troopers and looking after the families,” Scaparrotti said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_82nd_100108/%2e