Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo, incoming 2nd Infantry Division commander, speaks during a change of command ceremony outside the 2nd Infantry Division Headquarters at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 21, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The new commander of the Army’s only division that includes foreign troops said Friday he is honored to serve alongside “one of the greatest armies and the U.S.’s staunchest ally.”
Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo while taking charge of the 2nd Infantry Division in front of roughly 500 people at Robertson Field at Camp Humphreys said he felt he was “truly hitting the jackpot.”
“It is apparent after only spending a little time in theater that our secret power and secret sauce is the combined nature and these incredible [South Korean] soldiers that are part of this division,” Lombardo said outside the 2nd ID headquarters.
The former armor officer said he noticed three distinct characteristics in U.S. soldiers who served in Korea: enforcing high standards, a mastery in fundamentals and “lethality.”
Lombardo took command of the roughly 14,000-strong division from Maj. Gen. William Taylor, who held the position for 13 months.
From left , Maj. Gen. William Taylor, outgoing 2nd Infantry Division commander, Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, 8th Army commander, and Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo, incoming 2nd ID commander, at the division change of command at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on June 21, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
Lombardo was previously the director of training for the Headquarters of the Army and served as the deputy commanding general of training at the Combined Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
He graduated from Southwest Missouri State University and was commissioned in 1993, according to his Army biography.
Taylor begins his new position as U.S. Forces Korea’s director of operations on July 1, USFK spokesman Thomas Duval said in an email Friday.
USFK, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea, is headquartered at Camp Humphreys, the largest American military base overseas. The base is also home to the headquarters of U.N. Command, Combined Forces Command and Eighth Army.
Taylor described his time as 2nd ID’s commander and his five years serving in South Korea so far as “extremely important and special.”
“Just know that serving here in Korea as part of the greatest alliance is truly an amazing opportunity,” Taylor said in a speech. “We have a real mission that brings us all together with a common purpose for good.”
The 2nd ID’s arsenal includes a combat aviation brigade, a field artillery brigade and a yearly rotational force from the United States. The current rotational unit, the Texas-based 3rd Cavalry Regiment, arrived in South Korea in February.
The division includes about 1,000 South Korean draftees who undergo a highly competitive exam to become Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army, or KATUSA, soldiers.
“Thank you for sending us the best that your army has to offer,” Taylor said to South Korean military officials in attendance. “As they serve in the [South Korea-U.S.] combined division, they make us better each and every day.”
