Olson taking up
new post

The leader of the 25th Division is
headed for a top spot at the
U.S. Pacific Command

Maj. Gen. Eric "Rick" Olson is leaving his post as the head of the 25th Infantry Division next month to become the No. 2 man at the U.S. Pacific Command, the Pentagon announced yesterday.

Olson, who has commanded the Tropic Lightning Division since July 2002, including a year in Afghanistan, will receive his third star following U.S. Senate confirmation. He will be the first Army general to serve in the post since Maj. Gen. Ronald Lowe was acting deputy commander from June to August 2002.

Olson will replace Adm. Gary Roughead, who was deputy commander of the Pacific Command for five months until March, when he was tapped to take over the Pacific Fleet from retiring Adm. Walter Doran.

Olson is slated to step down June 29 and will be replaced by Brig. Gen. Benjamin Mixon. Mixon has been director of operations of the U.S. Southern Command in Florida since July 2003.

"Both of these selections highlight the importance our nation places on Asia-Pacific peace and security," said retired Adm. Thomas Fargo, who led the Pacific Command until March.

Olson is "a proven leader under the most difficult combat conditions," Fargo said. "As shown in Afghanistan, he has both the diplomatic and war-fighting skills to excel. He will be a strong addition to an experienced PACOM team."

Fargo said Roughead "brings to the Pacific Fleet strong regional experience, great judgment and respected leadership."

Olson "has shown himself to be a superb military commander," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's senior senator. "His experience in Afghanistan gives him a special, firsthand battlefield perspective that will prove invaluable in the development of the Stryker brigade that will be based in Hawaii."

Roughead, 53, came to the Pacific Command on Oct. 9 after serving as commander of the 2nd Fleet in the Atlantic, based in Norfolk, Va. His nomination and promotion to a four-star admiral was approved by the Senate on Thursday. He will relieve Doran, 59, at a July 8 change-of-command ceremony at Ford Island.

During his tenure as 25th Division commander, Olson, a 1991 Desert Storm veteran, presided over the first phase of converting one of the division's two combat brigades to the new mobile Stryker combat unit built around the Army's new 19-ton, eight-wheeled vehicle.

He also was part of the 25th Division's first combat deployment since the Vietnam War when it sent 5,000 soldiers to Iraq in January 2004 and another 5,000 soldiers to Afghanistan several months later. The last elements of the soldiers, who spent a year in Afghanistan, will be home next month just before Olson leaves.

As Pacific Fleet commander, Roughead will be in charge of 200 ships, 2,000 aircraft and more than 239,000 sailors, Marines and civilians.

Inouye said of Roughead's confirmation, "His training and experience shows he is well qualified to provide the outstanding leadership that his new position requires."