Lt. Gen. Thomas R. Turner assumed command of U.S. Army North during a ceremony Monday at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, according to an Army press release.
He replaced Lt. Gen. Robert T. Clark, who retired after 36 years of service.
“There is no organization more critical to protecting the United States than U.S. Northern Command and its components,” Turner said during the ceremony. “I look forward to the challenges ahead.”
Turner, who most recently commanded the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., also pinned on his third star during the ceremony.
As commander of the 101st, Turner served in Iraq from September 2005 to September 2006. There he commanded Task Force Band of Brothers.
U.S. Army North transformed from Fifth Army under Clark’s leadership, according to the release. The command’s new mission includes homeland defense, support to civil authorities during natural or manmade disasters, and security operations with the armies of Canada and Mexico. U.S. Army North reports to U.S. Northern Command.
“This organization exists to think about, plan and train for nightmarish scenarios. They will be busy doing terribly important work,” Clark said during the ceremony. He said that Army North “is on the verge of rapid intellectual growth as it finds its way in the complex business of homeland defense and civil support.”
Under Turner’s leadership, he said, Army North will become — like Northern Command — “a very sophisticated, graduate-level command and control headquarters.