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CORTLANDT, N.Y. Around 50 New York Army National Guard Soldiers from the 1st Battalion 106th Regional Training Institute attended Sunday afternoons change of command ceremony at the Camp Smith, as Lt. Col. Michael McGurty prepares to leave for his third tour in Afghanistan.
Incoming commander Maj. Robert Giordano received the colors and responsibilities of command from McGurty, who said he was honored to have served at Camp Smith.
"I can't say enough about the privilege I feel having command of this battalion over the past two and a half years," McGurty said. "These soldiers are some of the finest I've ever had the privilege to work with and they made my job incredibly easy."
The institute provides soldier, officer and non-commissioned officer training courses for the Army National Guard across New York State and the northeast. The 1st Battalion specializes in military police proficiency training.
Giordano, 45, lives in Rexford, N.Y., a suburb of Albany. He enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 1983 and received his commission as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1989.
Giordano has served in the military police, field artillery and public affairs career fields. He deployed to Iraq with the 42nd Infantry Division from 2004 to 2005 and served as the deputy public affairs officer for the 42nd Infantry Division and Task Force Liberty in North Central Iraq.
Giordano was promoted to the rank of Lt. Col. just prior to the ceremony by Regimental Commander Col. Michel Natali. He said he was very familiar with the base.
"For seven years I lived and worked down here at Camp Smith," Giordano said. "I started as an MP Private almost 30 years ago so this is full circle for me."
Giordano said the number of troops beneath him will flex greatly, from a couple dozen to a couple hundred.
"This is the battalion headquarters and we have units in three other states," Giordano said. "We provide and control for those other units. A typical battalion is 400 to 500 soldiers but these battalions are smaller because they are training battalions, not full combat battalions."
The new commander said he looked forward to doing one thing more than anything else training soldiers.
"Most of the times as an officer you spend as a staff officer doing plans, and you don't get a lot of time with soldiers," Giordano said. "This is my chance to spend time with soldiers. Believe me, when you spend your whole career doing staffing this is an honor. Only a small percentage of officers actually get command."
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