Ward to become
25th Infantry’s new
commander

Star-Bulletin staff

Maj. Gen. William Ward on Wednesday will receive the colors of the 25th Infantry Division Wednesday at a ceremony on Sills Field at Schofield Barracks.

Ward will receive the colors from Maj. Gen. James Hill. Hill, who has commanded the division since June 1997, will be promoted to a three-star rank during the same ceremony and will leave Hawaii for Fort Lewis in Washington, where he will command the Army's I Corps.

Ward's new command consists of more than 15,000 soldiers belonging to the division and U.S. Army Hawaii.

On Johnston Island, Col. Michael Brown took charge of U.S. Army Chemical Activity on Tuesday.

His ceremony, originally slated for Aug. 17, had to be postponed when Hurricane Dora threatened the Pacific atoll, located 825 miles southwest of Honolulu, leading to the evacuation of the facility.

At Pearl Harbor, Cmdr. Michael Donch will become the new boss of the Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One today.

At Fort Shafter, Col. Randal Castro tomorrow will become the 22nd commander of the Pacific Ocean Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

He replaces Brig. Gen. Carl Strock, who left July 13 to take on the job as head of the Northwest Division in Portland, Ore.