FORWARD OPERATING BASE, LIBERTY,
TIKRIT, Iraq — In ceremonial fashion, honoring a job
well done and welcoming the new, the 42nd Infantry
Division assumed responsibility of Coalition efforts in
Multinational Division - North Central, Iraq, Feb. 14.
In the ceremony, the torch was passed from Maj.
Gen. John R. S. Batiste, 1st Infantry Division
commander to Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Taluto, 42nd
Infantry Division (ID) commander, signifying an official
transfer of authority.
More than 22,000 Soldiers, more than 1,400 of
which are assigned to the 42nd DISCOM, New Jersey
Army National Guard; are under the command of the
42nd ID will support the multinational Division-North
Central Iraq.
The 42nd was formed on August 5, 1917 at Camp
Mill on Long Island, New York. It was composed of
men from 26 handpicked states and the District of
Columbia. Then Col. Douglas MacArthur, Division
Chief of Staff, said, “The Division stretches like
a rainbow from one end of America to the other.”
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