Hughes, McCaffrey bid aloha to Hawaii

 

Staff Sgt. Kyle Richardson
Army News Service

FORT SHAFTER — The “One Team” ohana extended a hui kaua to U.S. Army Pacific’s outgoing chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Christopher P. Hughes, and its deputy commanding general-South, Maj. Gen. Todd B. McCaffrey, during a Flying V ceremony, May 6.

Hughes will assume new responsibilities as commander, U.S. Army Cadet Command and of Fort Knox. As the senior leader of Cadet Command and Fort Knox, Hughes will command a total of 275 ROTC programs located in colleges and universities throughout the 50 states. Cadet Command is also responsible for more than 1,600 JROTC programs across the nation.

McCaffrey also departs for Fort Knox to assume command of First Army Division East, where he’ll oversee the training of joint, interagency, combined and active Army forces, along with reserve components assets for deployment and contingency force requirements.

Historic Palm Circle lived up to its name, once again, as the two generals stood side-by-side at attention, looking out across the field. Combined, Hughes and McCaffrey have dedicated almost 70 years of their lives to the U.S. Army, along with multiple tours in the Pacific region. Both served USARPAC dutifully in multiple capacities.

“It is a great day to recognize these two great warriors, two great leaders who have done so much for our Army, for our nation and their families – unbelievable teams,” said Gen. Robert B. Brown, USARPAC’s commanding general. “For the better part of this decade, Todd McCaffrey has been oriented towards the Pacific. He has had a long history in this region. This organization and the Army has certainly benefitted from his extensive knowledge and experience in this.

“Regionally aligned forces, regional experts – you got a great one standing up there,” Brown said, as he gestured towards McCaffrey.

“With Chris (Hughes), USARPAC gained one of the most broadly-developed leaders in the general officer corps,” Brown continued. “He is well respected and well known as an innovative and adaptive leader. His skills and talent were in full display as he really established a culture of innovation, which is not easy to do, but he is extremely good at it.”

Both general officers said they enjoyed their time in USARPAC and were grateful they had the opportunity for many valuable experiences. Hughes, however, had a message to leave the “One Team” family.

“USARPAC, in my opinion, is the strongest and most productive Army service component in the world,” he said. “Everyone here must understand that this is a four-star level command that brings strategic focus to the Pacific in support of the PACOM (U.S. Pacific Command) commander’s vision and our partners and allies in this most critical region. We bring 106,000 Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians assigned from all three of our components – active, Reserve and National Guard. It commands three Army forces, a corps, eight brigade combat teams and three combat aviation brigades.”

Hughes noted that USARPAC is expertly supported by its own watercraft, aircraft, mission command, high-altitude missile intercept batteries, medical support and logistics.

“There is nothing that this organization cannot do,” Hughes said. “USARPAC is the total joint force package and reaffirms the Army’s commitment to balance to the Pacific.”

Brown said USARPAC will lose two great officers, but their time here has helped to create a better organization and the Army, overall, will be better off for their service.

“For both Team McCaffrey and Team Hughes, for your dedication, love and selfless service, to those you lead and the families around you, we bid you a fond aloha farewell,” Brown said. “Know you will always be a part of the ‘One Team’ ohana, and we will miss you deeply. Mahalo.”

Tags: featured, Flying V, full-image, U.S. Army-Pacific (USARPAC), U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM)

Category: News