Cobra Six Ancient

I know my hardworking and handsome husband won't write about his Change of Command (even if he were so inclined, he's so busy right now he struggles to find time to eat and sleep, much less write blog posts), so I'll do it for him.  On Friday Mike officially passed the baton, or actually the Guidon, to his successor as Cobra Company Commander.  The ceremony was nice.  Thankfully, it was held indoors, as we got our first big snow of the winter on Friday.  Komo, Jihyun Unnie, and Kyoungmin Unnie were able to come, and several of Mike's soldiers who have moved to other units came as well.  The Battalion Commander was very complimentary in his speech--praising everything from Cobra's supply system to their performance at gunnery, and saying that not only was Mike one of the best Commanders he's ever seen, but two First Sergeants (the senior enlisted member in the Company, and a position of great responsibility) both told him, "The men would do anything for Captain Kim."

I don't think he, or the First Sergeants, were exaggerating.  I've had three First Sergeants tell me that Mike is the best Company Commander they've ever seen, and multiple Soldiers tell me he's by far the best leader they've ever worked for.  The day of the Change of Command, several made a point to tell me how much they're going to miss him (the running half-joke was that grown men were going to cry at the ceremony).  At least one soldier posted a tribute on Facebook:  "Today we lost a truly amazing commander from Cobra Co.  I doubt if I will ever again be able to work for someone who is so dedicated and looks out for his soldiers so much."  The soldiers had a huge plaque made for him--it barely fit in the car--because they said they wanted it to be larger than the one for the Second Infantry Division Commander (a two-star General).

When we drove back to the Company building after the ceremony, I noticed a KATUSA Soldier standing in front of the building.  I looked closer--he was taking a picture of the sign with "CPT Michael B. Kim" before it was replaced with the new Commander's name.

And so Mike, called "Cobra Six" when he was Company Commander, is now "Cobra Six Ancient".  He won't be title-less for long, however; he'll take command of the infantry battalion's Headquarters Company this week, when he'll become "Hellraiser Six".  We're going to miss Cobra Company!  But I'm excited to see  the new Company's success under Mike's leadership.