Col. David Mayfield passes the unit colors to Installation Management Command-Europe director Tommy Mize, as Mayfield relinquishes command of U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden on June 26, 2024, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Bradley Latham/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — Leadership of the U.S. Army’s garrison in Wiesbaden, which is home to the service’s headquarters for Europe and Africa, passed to Col. Troy Danderson during a ceremony Wednesday at Clay Kaserne.
Danderson took over command from Col. David Mayfield, who presided over major expansion as a garrison of 13,000 people grew into a community of about 20,000 over the past two years.
This growth included the establishment of Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, the expansion of the 56th Artillery Command and the relocation of Installation Management Command-Europe headquarters to Clay Kaserne from Sembach, which is about 50 miles away.
Col. Troy Danderson gives his first speech as commander of U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden on June 26, 2024, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Bradley Latham/Stars and Stripes)
Director of Installation Management Command-Europe Tommy Mize delivers remarks June 26, 2024, during the U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden change of command ceremony in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Bradley Latham/Stars and Stripes)
Mayfield said his fondest memories as commander involved developing relationships with the German community, adding that he was honored by Lord Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende’s unofficial naming of the Army garrison as the “27th district of Wiesbaden.”
“David’s host nation engagement plan has been the model that’s attempted to be replicated across all of our garrisons,” IMCOM-Europe director Tommy Mize said during Wednesday’s ceremony.
Mayfield’s next assignment will take him to Izmir, Turkey, as the intelligence officer for NATO’s Allied Land Command.
Danderson, also an intelligence officer, takes command in Wiesbaden following a tour with the U.S. assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs’ protection policy division.
“I’m eager to work alongside you and anticipating the needs of this community,” Danderson said Wednesday. “This was the assignment I wanted, the team I wanted to be a part of, and the community in which we wanted to belong.”
U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Command Sgt. Maj. Yves Pamphil salutes with a U.S. and German color guard during a change of command ceremony June 26, 2024, in Wiesbaden, Germany. (Bradley Latham/Stars and Stripes)
