By Jenn Rowell • July 12, 2009
A change-of-command ceremony symbolizes a formal change in leadership for the troops. But that symbolism and military tradition can be bittersweet, with one commander relinquishing authority to his successor.
On Saturday, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Talley gave command of the 926th Engineer Brigade, an Army Reserve unit based in Montgomery, to Col. Bud Jameson Jr. Talley is going to the 84th Training Command in Wisconsin.
Talley had commanded the unit since 2004, when it was an engineer group. It was converted to a brigade in 2006. In 2008, he led about 120 soldiers to Baghdad for a yearlong deployment.
While there, the soldiers built a water purification plant and cleared sewage from the streets in Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood. They also conducted 1,100 route clearance missions over 43,500 miles, and their task forces completed 400 projects valued at about $75 million.
The 926th split into task forces to accomplish its missions and that method proved highly effective, Maj. Gen. Paul Hamm said.
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