Fort Liberty Special Warfare Center and School to get new commander
FORT LIBERTY — The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Liberty will see a new commander, the Department of Defense announced this week.
In a news release Monday, officials said Brig. Gen. Jason C. Slider will be the new SWC commander.
Slider is currently deputy commander of operations for the French army’s 3rd Division.
The DOD has not yet announced when the command change will happen or the next assignment for SWC’s current commander, Brig. Gen. Guillaume “Will” Beaurpere, who took command in August 2022.
SWC oversees the Special Forces assessment and selection course, training for Special Forces and special operation forces and foreign language training, with more than 100 courses for civil affairs, psychological operations, Special Forces, allied and sister service students.
Under SWC are the school, Special Forces Warrant Officer Institute, the Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the 1st Special Warfare Training Group, 2nd Special Warfare Training Group and the Special Warfare Medical Group.
According to Slider's biography, he enlisted in the Army as an infantryman in 1990, before completing the Army’s Officer Candidate School in 1992.
His previous local assignments have included commanding U.S. Army Special Operations Command detachments and companies from 2004 to 2008; serving as deputy commander for the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade; serving as chief of staff for the 18th Airborne Corps and being commander of the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade from 2016 to 2018.
SWC will also be getting a new deputy commander, according to the DOD news release, but an individual has not yet been announced.
Brig. Gen. Sara E. Dudley, SWC’s current deputy commander for modernization, is leaving to become the next deputy commander of operations for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
In other Special Forces changes, the DOD also announced that Brig. Gen. Joseph W. Wortham II, deputy commander of operations for the 1st Special Forces Command, will be the new assistant commander of support for the Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command, also at Fort Liberty.
The DOD has not announced who will replace Wortham at the 1st Special Forces Command.
Security Forces Assistance Command change
The DOD also announced that Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Lambert, deputy commander of V Corps in Germany, will be the new commander of the Security Force Assistance Command, based at Fort Liberty.
The DOD has not yet announced the next assignment for the SFAC’s current commander, Maj. Gen. Donn Hill, who’s led the command since May 2022.
The Security Force Assistance Command sustains readiness, manning and training of five regular Army brigades, one National Guard brigade and a training battalion, that support combatant commanders and partner nations in training, and advise and assist operations.
Other Fort Liberty changes
Other leadership changes at Fort Liberty include:
• Maj. Gen. Stephen G. Smith will be deputy commander and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Forces Command. He most recently served as commander of the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
• Brig. Gen. David W. Gardner will be FORSCOM’s next deputy chief of staff for operations and training, civil-military operations and information operations. Gardner is currently commander of Fort Johnson and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Johnson, Louisiana.
• Maj. Gen. Scott M. Naumann, current FORSCOM deputy chief of staff, will be the next commander of Fort Drum, New York, and the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum.
• Brig. Gen. Sean P. Davis, commander of the 13th Expeditionary Sustainment Command at Fort Cavazos, Texas, and Operation Spartan Shield in Kuwait, will be FORSCOM’s next deputy chief of staff for logistics.
• Brig. Gen. John P. Cogbill, deputy director of Operations Fires and Effects for the U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, will be the next deputy commander for the 18th Airborne Corps.
• Maj. Gen. Colin P. Tuley, the current 18th Airborne Corps deputy commander, will be the next commander of Fort Moore, Georgia, and the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Moore.
• Brig. Gen. Andrew O. Saslav, deputy commander of operations for the 82nd Airborne Division, will be the next to deputy chief of staff of operations and training for the U.S. Army Europe-Africa in Germany.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fort Liberty special operations forces to see leadership changes
