State-based officers get promotions

Col. Lloyd Miles, who took the 25th Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team to Iraq in 2004, has been selected for promotion to brigadier general. He is currently serving as executive officer to the Army chief of staff.

At Camp Smith, Army Maj. Gen. David Fridovich, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command-Pacific, has been nominated for the rank of lieutenant general. Fridovich will become the next director of the center for special operations at U.S. Special Operations Command headquarters in Florida.

Other Hawaii-based officers who will get their first star include Army Cols. Mark Perrin and Richard C. Longo. Both are at Fort Shafter at the U.S. Army Pacific, where Perrin is assistant chief of staff and Longo is chief of staff.

At Schofield Barracks, Col. Gary S. Patton, 25th Division chief of staff, also has been promoted to brigadier general.

The 25th Infantry Division, which will leave for Iraq in December, will lose almost all of its current leaders. Col. Todd McCaffrey will assume command of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team on June 27 as the unit prepares for a two-month training rotation beginning in August at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in Southern California.

Five of the 2nd Brigade's six battalions will see leadership changes:

» Lt. Col. Mario Diaz will replace Lt. Col. Matthew Kelley as commander of 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry.

» Lt. Col. Mark Collins will replace Lt. Col. Charles Gibson as commander of 225th Brigade Support Battalion.

» Lt. Col. Thomas Boccardi will replace Lt. Col. Robert Mundell as commander of 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry.

» Lt. Col. Joseph Gleichenhaus will replace Lt. Col. Stephen Myers as commander 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery.

» Lt. Col. Timothy Gauthier will replace Lt. Col. David Davidson as commander of 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry.

Nearly 100 soldiers from Hawaii and Alaska recently resumed a training exercise in Indonesia that was suspended in 1997. Army Reserve Col. Jon Lee, commander of the Pacific Army Reserve's 4960th Multi-Forces Training Brigade, served as a co-director of Garuda Shield, which ran April 16-27. A Garuda is a mythical predatory bird of intelligence and the national symbol of Indonesia.

About 70 Indonesian soldiers joined soldiers from the Hawaii Army National Guard, the Pacific Army Reserve's 9th Regional Readiness Command and the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Alaska in Bogor for the exercise.

Maj. Brian Peterson, who headed the 10-member delegation from the Hawaii Army National Guard, said the overall theme of the exercise was peacekeeping operations.

MOVING UP

Pearl Harbor

» Rear Adm. John J. Prendergast III, Pacific Fleet deputy chief of staff for logistics, fleet supply and ordnance, will become vice director for logistics on the Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.

» Rear Adm. Stephen S. Voetsch, Pacific Fleet deputy chief of staff for operations, training and readiness, will become commander of Operational Test and Evaluation Force at Norfolk, Va.

Schofield Barracks

» Lt. Col. Nicholas Katers will relieve Lt. Col. Mark Topasses as commander of 84th Engineer Battalion.

» Col. Matthew Margotta will assume command of U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, relieving Col. Howard Killian.

"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for the Star-Bulletin. He can be reached by phone at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.