The outgoing head of the 56th Artillery Command, Maj. Gen. Stephen Maranian, passes the unit colors to Gen. Darryl Williams, U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, as Brig. Gen. Andrew Gainey, the new commander of the 56th, waits to receive them July 11, 2023, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Thomas Mort/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — Leadership of the top artillery command in Europe, resurrected nearly two years ago to bring more Army firepower to the Continent, has changed hands at the service’s European headquarters in Germany.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Maranian, the first to lead the relaunched 56th Artillery Command and newly established 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force, handed off leadership of the units last week in Wiesbaden to Brig. Gen. Andrew Gainey.
Gainey comes to the job after stints as a deputy commanding general with the 1st Infantry Division and most recently as a deputy commander of operations with a French division out of Marseille, France. The U.S. and allies on occasion carry out exchanges that give officers broader international experience.
"He's commanded at every echelon from platoon to brigade, including operations in Iraq, and he deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division," Gen. Darryl Williams, head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, said of Gainey during a change of command ceremony on July 11.
During his tenure, Maranian was tasked with overseeing the influx of hundreds of additional soldiers sent to Europe to help bring back the kind of firepower that was common there during the Cold War.
"The 56th Artillery Command and 2nd Multi-Domain Task Force have grown from a concept into tangible combat power in just 21 short months,” Maranian said at the ceremony.
For U.S. Army Europe and Africa, the reestablishment of the 56th Artillery Command was a milestone that capped a yearslong push to rebuild artillery as a major Army mission in Europe.
The command was a mainstay during the Cold War, with rocket units scattered across Germany. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 56th and its supporting units gradually went away during the military’s long drawdown in Europe.
In 2021, the 56th was brought back to counter a renewed Russian threat along NATO’s eastern flank.
"He leaves an awesome legacy: stronger fires formations across Europe and a first-class theater fires command that is ready to deter aggression,” Williams said.
