FORT RILEY, Kan. – The “Big Red One” will bid farewell to its senior leader
and welcome the newest commanding general to the 1st Infantry Division in a
Change of Command ceremony at 10 a.m. June 8 on Fort Riley’s Cavalry Parade
Field.

Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Martin assumed command of the 1st Inf. Div. in October
2016 and shortly thereafter deployed with the Big Red One headquarters to
Iraq, where the division took command of the Combined Joint Forces Land
Component Command – Operation Inherent Resolve in November 2016. While
deployed, the division headquarters provided command and control of
Coalition troops training, advising and assisting Iraqi Security Forces.

During that time, 1.8 million people were liberated in Mosul, Iraq, which
had been under ISIS control since June 2014. While the headquarters was
deployed, more than 350,000 children returned to school in Mosul, 320
schools reopened and 195,000 internally displaced persons returned to their
homes in Iraq’s second-largest city. Under the 1st Inf. Div.’s leadership,
30,000 Iraqi Security Forces Soldiers were trained.

The division’s next commanding general will be Maj. Gen. John S. Kolasheski.
Kolasheski most recently served as deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7, for the
U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He previously served
with the 1st Inf. Div. as the division’s deputy commanding general for
maneuver from June 2015 to May 2016, and in various positions with the
division from July 2001 to May 2005.