By Melissa Buckley, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — The 1st Engineer Brigade held a change-of-command ceremony June 28 in Nutter Field House, where Col. Aaron Bohrer relinquished command to Col. Mark Glaspell.
Col. Stephen Kolouch, U.S. Army Engineer School commandant, served as the reviewing officer for the ceremony. He listed some of Bohrer’s accomplishments while commanding the brigade for the past two years, including training more than 15,000 Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Sailors.
“The brigade has been recognized for excellence, ranking No. 1 in retention in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and No. 3 in the entire U.S. Army. That says a lot about the culture and climate of this organization,” Kolouch said. “You can see how proud Colonel Bohrer is of this brigade. You can see in his eyes, he has a passion for it. You can see how much he has invested in this brigade. He cares.”
Kolouch said the ceremony is serving as a change of command for the brigade, but also a “change of Maneuver Support Center of Excellence chief-of-staff responsibilities,” a position Glaspell has held since June 2023.
Bohrer — who now moves on to be the MSCoE chief of staff — said his last few days of command had been filled with a lot of “reflection.”
“The 1st Engineer Brigade is here to simply train the future of the (Army) Engineer Regiment. We exist only to train. We are focused solely on providing the best Sappers, geospatial, builders, divers, firefighters, maintainers and officers to the joint force,” Bohrer said. “We have provided an environment for our civilians, drill sergeants, instructors and our support staff to become experts in the craft. I have been truly honored to have served with you for two years.”
Kolouch said Glaspell is a respected, seasoned and truly capable leader and “the brigade will remain in very good hands.”
While standing at the podium, inspecting the lines of 1st En. Bde. Soldiers in formation, Glaspell said they looked “outstanding.”
“I promise that I will endeavor to maintain and build upon the standard you have set under Colonel Bohrer’s leadership,” Glaspell said. “I am ready and excited for this challenge.”
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.