Former 3rd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo still didn’t know Friday what his next assignment would be when he passed the division command to Maj. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams in a change-of-command ceremony on Fort Stewart’s Cottrell Field.
 Cucolo took command of the 3rd ID on July 14, 2008.
“Tony has never taken his eye off the ball (since),” U.S. Army Forces Commanding Gen. James Thurman said. Thurman described Cucolo as a “soldier’s general,” referring to his “outstanding leadership,” training troops to fight and win wars and the concern he has shown troops and their families.
“It is fitting that I become just the next picture on the wall of the (3rd ID) headquarters building,” Cucolo said.
Cucolo came to Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield after a two-year tour as chief of Public Affairs for the Army at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
During his 33 months in command here, Cucolo deployed with the 3rd ID Headquarters to Iraq in October 2009, according to Fort Stewart public affairs. There, the former 3rd ID commander assumed command of U.S. Division-North and Task Force Marne. He was responsible for U.S. forces operating in seven Iraqi provinces north of Baghdad.
For more, pick up a copy of the April 23 edition of the News.