Fort Sill holds Garrison change of command ceremony

FORT SILL, Okla. (TNN) - Monday there was a Change of Command ceremony for the Garrison Commander on Fort Sill. Col. Don King passed the colors onto Col. Rhett Taylor.

Col. King served as Fort Sill’s Garrison Commander the last two years.

Moving to Oklahoma was a first for the King family. Col. King said that move was meaningful because of the Lawton/Fort Sill community.

“My last two years as Garrison Commander was phenomenal,” said Col. King. “It went much faster than I thought it would. I think the best part of this, the highlights of my time here was the relationships, not only with the organizations on the installation, but the Lawton community. I will tell you from day one the people that we met in Lawton made the difference.”

Col. King passed the colors to Col. Taylor, who has served Fort Sill many years over his career. He spent time at Fort Sill in the early 2000s and then made his return last year with Fires Center G3.

Col. Taylor said it is the people that he is most looking forward to as he starts his new role.

“I’ve been here for a year and my previous job I worked closely with the Garrison and they’re just great people,” said Col. Taylor. “I’m excited to be part of that team and the Lawton/Fort Sill community. I’ve already met a lot of the people from the chamber and the mayor and I’m just excited to work with everyone.”

Col. Taylor said he knows his new position comes with major responsibility.

“The decisions we make in this job, it’s going to impact more than just on the installation,” said Col. Taylor. “It’s going to impact off the installation as well and the soldiers and families.”

Col. King and his family will now head to Stuttgart, Germany, where he will begin his new position as Chief of Staff of the Special Operations Command, Europe. It is his first overseas mission in his nearly 35-year career.

The Fort Sill Garrison Command controls the infrastructure and support system on Post. It functions similar to a city government.

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