By Dawn Arden
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Jan. 31, 2019) — The U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School held an assumption of responsibility ceremony for Regimental Command Sgt. Maj. Christopher Williams Tuesday in Nutter Field House.
Williams, the 15th RCSM in the corps’ 100-year history, will serve as the senior enlisted leader for the regiment. He has been stationed at Fort Leonard Wood twice prior as a noncommissioned officer in charge and a first sergeant. He has deployed multiple times with his last deployment being to West Africa to help combat the spread of Ebola.
“Ours is not an easy branch,” said Brig. Gen. Andy Munera, USACBRNS commandant. “Chris understands what it means to be a Dragon Soldier. He understands that a Dragon Soldier must first master warrior tasks and the fundamentals of movement and maneuver before they can integrate their technical expertise.”
Munera issued his commander’s intent to Williams.
“As my battle buddy, I charge you with helping transform the Army culture to view the presence of CBRN on the battlefield as a unique opportunity to seize, retain and exploit the initiative. Develop Dragon Soldiers and leaders with the right tools and skills to enable maneuver, counter WMD, and, if needed, defend the homeland. Develop future capabilities that allow the Army to assess, protect and mitigate hazards at distance and in stride in order to preserve freedom of action,” he said.
“You are entering the best job in the Army. I know you will take the corps to the next level,” Munera added.
Williams called his selection as RCSM “unexpected.” He said he has been blessed to serve with some of the best Soldiers, NCOs, officers and civilians in the Army.
“I understand it takes all of us working together to make our corps better,” Williams said. “I’ve been a Dragon Soldier for 29 years and have loved every moment of it. We are all driven leaders and want our units to be the best.”
He said the task of training and leading America’s sons and daughter is one he does not take lightly.
“We have to be the best at this, because our nation needs us to be prepared to fight and win its battles,” Williams said. “We will be prepared. We are Dragon Soldiers.”
Williams assumed responsibility following Command Sgt. Maj. Henney Hodgkins’ selection as interim CSM for the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood before being selected as the senior enlisted advisor for 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
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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 82,000 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 and Air Force detachments on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.
More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission.