A new commander has taken the reins at Dugway Proving Ground after a change of command ceremony on the parade grounds Wednesday morning.
Col. Sean G. Kirshner will take over for Col. Ronald F. Fizer, who finished his two-year stint leading the installation.
Kirshner and Fizer will switch locations, with Fizer moving back to Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon to serve as director for Chemical and Biological Defense Programs for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.
Major Gen. Daniel L. Karbler, commanding general of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, presided over the ceremony.
“I’ve been in the Army for 28 years and it still always chokes me up a bit when I watch that transfer of authority take place,” he said. “It really is a bittersweet moment.”
Kirshner previously held the position of deputy director of Chemical and Biological Technologies, Defense Threat Reduction Agency for the Department of Defense in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
“It’s quite a daunting responsibility,” he said. “We’ve got quite a complex mission and we’re involved in some dangerous business trying to keep warfighters and our soldiers safe.”
Kirshner said he doesn’t expect there will be many differences between his leadership style and goals from that of Fizer.
“Col. Fizer and I … agree on a lot of things and we came up in the same kind of world — we’re both chemical officers in the United States Army and had about the same experience coming to this job,” he said. “I’m focused on upholding the standards and discipline that are required out here to effectively test and evaluate the systems for our warfighting community.”
Kirshner also followed Fizer as an operations officer in Korea, though Kirshner was one officer removed from taking over directly from Fizer.
“When I opened the drawers, it was filled with stuff that said Ron Fizer on it,” Kirshner said. “He really set the stage at that job that I had, so he really set the stage for a long time.”
In his comments, Fizer had high praise for Dugway Proving Ground’s citizen employees, calling them quiet professionals that do not seek the limelight.
“Dugway Proving Ground’s work force is that shadow work force, if you will,” Fizer said. “They’re out there today, and every day, dedicating their time to make sure that the solutions that we send to those warfighters actually perform as expected.”
The size and scope of the facilities and projects at Dugway Proving Ground are daunting, Kirshner said, referencing the area of the base being larger than the state of Rhode Island.
“This is a national treasure out here,” he said. “The size is what brings a lot of people here. We can do a lot of things out in the test area you can’t do a lot of places.”
Now the commander at Dugway, Kirshner admitted there would be an adjustment period for his wife and three children after living near the nation’s capital.
“We came over Rush Valley highway at about 6 o’clock about a week ago and everybody had left for the day, so it was Sleepy Hollow out here,” he said. “Coming from D.C. we’ve got a little culture shock we’re adjusting to, but the family is looking forward to it.”