From the 98th Training Division (IET) Commander

Soldiers are our most important resource and the Army charges us as leaders with training, preparing, and caring for our Soldiers. Together we cared for our Soldiers in a way that demonstrated compassion, equality, and justice. It may not have always been easy, but the results will have lasting effects.

By Brig. Gen. Tony Wright

Commanding, 98th Training Division (IET)

Leading the Iroquois Warrior Division has been a privilege and honor of a lifetime. I want to thank each of you for serving with me during the last two years. As I look back, we accomplished much together, and I want to thank you for moving forward with me in my vision to focus on producing drill sergeants and improving the support we provide to Fort Benning, Fort Jackson and other Reserve units in our footprint. We made required adjustments in priorities so we could better balance the workload and support companies. We developed recruiting programs, transitioned to DSPAS to better manage drill sergeant candidate packets, and dramatically increased drill sergeant graduations.

I believe we assumed risks in the right areas. There is risk involved in everything we do and managing risk is one of our most important tasks as leaders. The other is time management. Given our staffing and constraints, seldom will we have enough time and resources to fully accomplish everything. Thank you for working with me to assess and prioritize our tasks so we could better serve our Soldiers. Our Soldiers and units have adapted in so many ways to achieve goals that there is little room to cover them all here. However, I thank each of you for your creativity and innovation in solving our many challenges from the routine to the very complex.

I appreciate your understanding of my Command Philosophy “accomplish the mission and treat others as you want to be treated.” I know this was not easy. Accomplishing the mission can mean different things to different people. We had to weigh priorities, capabilities, resources, and our Soldiers to accurately understand and attack missions, and you never failed. Soldiers are our most important resource and the Army charges us as leaders with training, preparing, and caring for our Soldiers. Together we cared for our Soldiers in a way that demonstrated compassion, equality, and justice. It may not have always been easy, but the results will have lasting effects. For me, selfless service is the key to success. For in exercising selfless service, we are able to accomplish tasks while taking care of those around us. I had the opportunity to watch so many Iroquois Warriors sacrifice, and in doing so, achieve greatness in themselves and their units. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of such greatness.

As the Division moves forward, I encourage each of you to continue to lead, to strive to do your best, to seek improvement, to always accomplish the mission, and to always treat others as you want to be treated. It was an honor to serve with you, and I look forward to hearing of your future success and the success of the Iroquois Warriors.