Mixon will be new
25th Division commander

Brig. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon will become the newest commander of the 25th Infantry Division (Light) which still has a brigade completing a year of combat service in Afghanistan.

Mixon has been director of operations of the U.S. Southern Command in Florida since July 2003. He will replace Maj. Gen. Eric Olson who has led the Tropic Lightning Division since June 2002.

A Schofield Barracks spokesman said yesterday he didn't know where Olson's next assignment will be or when Mixon will assume his duties. Assignment as head of the 25th Division would mean a second star for Mixon.

Olson's departure will mean that there will be at least two new general officers at Schofield this year.

Last week the Pentagon announced that Brig. Gen. Francis J. Wiercinski, director for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, will be an assistant 25th Division commander. He will replace Brig. Gen. Charles Jacoby who has been at Schofield since October 2003 in charge of its support operations. The Army has not announced Jacoby's new assignment.

The Army is not the only service to be shuffling its leadership positions.

At Pearl Harbor tomorrow Rear Adm. Jeffrey B. Cassias will relieve Rear Adm. Paul F. Sullivan as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet at a change of command ceremony at onboard the USS Pasadena.

Also pending is the promotion of Vice Adm. Gary Roughead as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, replacing Adm. Walter Doran later this year.