Article Display

Third Army welcomes new chief of staff

  • Published
  • By Sgt. 1st Class Tony J. Spain
  • Third Army/ARCENT Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Third Army/ARCENT honored Brig. Gen. Charles L. Taylor, Third Army/ARCENT chief of staff, with a welcome ceremony Aug. 22 at Lucky Park outside of Patton Hall here.

"This is truly the perfect setting to be formally welcomed into the Third Army Family.  This ceremony provides us with a moment to enjoy the history of Third Army and Army Central and really, the heritage of our Army," Taylor said. "The sound and feeling of the eleven rounds from that salute battery really helped to bridge the present to the echoes of cannons on another field in another time when this flag was first unfurled all the way back in 1918."

The 171st Field Artillery Salute Battery, Fort Jackson, S.C. led by 1st. Lt. Joseph Peña fired eleven rounds from the cannons. Pena presented the first round fired to Taylor in his honor.

Lt. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, Third Army/ARCENT commanding general, was the guest speaker for the ceremony and welcomed Taylor and his Family into the Third Army Family.

"This is a great Army Family that we are fortunate to have joining our team. I'll tell you, Chuck brings immense and diverse experience into this position as chief of staff. A tremendously talented officer who has done the kinds of things we would expect of any leader in order to be in the position of guiding the Third Army/ARCENT staff in all of its missions."

Taylor, an infantry officer and veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan most recently served as the assistant division commander (maneuver) for 2nd Infantry Division, Eighth Army in Korea before being assigned to Third Army/ARCENT.

"Chuck is now going to take on the immense challenges of maintaining efficient and also effective coordination within this command that is deployed and has major staff elements in four different countries and has staff members, individuals, who are out doing things in 14 different countries today," said Brooks. "This is going to require quite a bit of reach and quite a bit of skill and I'm absolutely certain we have the right person to do that."

To learn more about the Third Army, visit www.arcent.army.mil or visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PattonsOwn.