Maj. Gen. George Franz III takes the reins at INSCOM

Members of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, as well as senior leaders, distinguished guests and representatives from several foreign countries, gathered for a change of command ceremony at the Fort Belvoir Community Center on May 30.

Maj. Gen. George J. Franz III, who previously served as the commander of Cyber National Mission Force, U.S. Cyber Command at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland, took the reins from Maj. Gen. Stephen G. Fogarty during the ceremony.

“With a well-earned reputation for principled leadership and innovative execution, we couldn’t have picked a better and more worthy successor than Maj. Gen. Franz,” said Lt. Gen. Mary A. Legere, U.S. Army deputy chief of staff for intelligence (G2), and the ceremony’s reviewing officer. “Over the course of your career, you have built some of the best teams with some of the most impressive records of innovative collaboration and mission accomplishment.”

During her remarks, Legere also highlighted many of the command’s accomplishments under Fogarty, including, “supporting decisive operations in seven theaters, tethering the Army’s tactical forces to the intelligence of this great command and the greater intelligence community,” said Legere.

“It has been your combined vision, your inspired leadership and your unfailing commitment to the development of your team that has allowed these subordinate leaders to excel and flourish,” Legere said of Fogarty.

During his farewell speech, Fogarty encapsulated what the command’s workforce has accomplished during his tenure. “What I really want to do is principally thank the servicemen and women, civilians and contractors in INSCOM formations around the world, as well as our joint inter-agency and multi-national partners who help enable our success,” he said. “For the past 26 months, I have been humbled to be your commander. I absolutely believe that the intelligence work you perform on a daily basis around the globe saves U.S. and coalition lives, and helps inform our leaders at all levels, enabling their ability to make better decisions.”

Fogarty went on to explain why he leaves with such fond memories of his time with the command. “I stand before you and tell you with absolute certainty that leading INSCOM is without a doubt the best job I could have ever asked for,” he said.

After taking the podium, Franz thanked Fogarty for building such a strong foundation and admitted he looks forward to the challenge ahead.

“Even though, as a nation and as an Army, we continue to go into an unstable future with significant fiscal challenges, INSCOM will continue to press forward with the mission to provide unrivaled intelligence support to the Army and the joint force,” Franz said. “The men and women of INSCOM have dealt with tough challenges before, and we will continue to focus on taking care of soldiers, civilians and families, while providing a trained and ready intelligence force.”

Headquartered at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, INSCOM is the Army’s one-stop-shop for intelligence, operating across all intelligence disciplines, leveraging strong relationships with physical and virtual presence in all theaters around the globe.