BRAC marching orders send Eustis soldiers, leader to Fort Lee
By Joshua Brown
Aug 20, 2010, 14:20
After 64 years at Fort Eustis, the U.S. Army Transportation School officially moved to Fort Lee this week, receiving its 15th chief of transportation in the process.
Brig. Gen. Ed Dorman III took over as the commandant of the U.S. Army Transportation School, replacing outgoing commandant Brig. Gen. Brian Layer.
Part of the Base Realignment and Closure decisions of 2005, Fort Lee saw its first fully-operational training unit come to the base from Fort Eustis in July. The uncasing of the transportation corps and regimental colors signified the establishment of the school at Fort Lee.
“And we know that the colors have been at Fort Eustis since when?” Brig. Gen. Jesse R. Cross said. “1946. Now they’re at Fort Lee, the home of the transportation school – hooah – where nothing happens until something moves.
“A new legacy has begun.”
Before inviting the outgoing commandant to speak, Cross commended the soldier for his work as the chief of transportation.
“Brian, we could not ask for a better job, an important job you had in preparing the Transportation Corps soldiers to meet the demands of the 21st century,” said Cross. “As commandant of the transportation school, Brian directed, organized, evaluated and improved education and training and supported more than 11,000 soldiers annually in three different geographic locations.”
“Indeed the fruits of your labor, Brian, are truly shown by the transportation corps and by the transportation soldiers’ countless missions to Afghanistan and Iraq.”
For his part, Dorman said he looked at the opportunity to serve as chief of transportation with respect.
“I’m well aware of the gift that’s been given to me today,” said Dorman. “Command is always a privilege. Command in a time of war is an honor. A distinct honor. Part of that honor for me each day is I follow in command Brian Layer, a tremendous leader and transporter, but I also walk in the footsteps of other former chiefs of transportation, many of whom are here today.”
Dorman said that as the transportation school goes forward under his watch, it will have to harness the “innovation and energy” of its students, while continuing “to refine its systems and processes to improve transportation and distribution support.” He also pointed out that in order to be successful in its mission, the transportation school would have to work as a team.
Dorman, a native of Cookeville, Tenn., graduated in 1983 from Tennessee Technological University, where he was commissioned. He is a graduate of Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, the Army Command and General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He holds a master of language arts in German language and literature from Middlebury College and the Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, as well as a master of science in national resource strategy from the National Defense University.
Outgoing commandant Layer said the day was significant because it was uncasing “for the very first time” its colors at its new home at Fort Lee.
“While I like to say where we train and where we write our doctrine are historical footnotes,” he said, “that our history has been written on battlefields around the world since Washington crossed the Delaware – in an army boat – with that being said this will be an important place to a whole new generation of transporters, and because of that it’s important to us.”
Under the BRAC decisions, Fort Lee has undergone a dramatic expansion, with the U.S. Army Ordnance School relocating to the base earlier this year. Officials have said the base’s population will triple because of the moves.
