New Fort Hamilton commander has close ties to Brooklyn
Col. Davidson says his new job ‘is like coming home’
Col. Joseph D. Davidson, the new commanding officer of the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Hamilton, officially assumed his new post at the fort Wednesday morning during a ceremony filled with military tradition.
The moment during the ceremony that signified the change-of-command came when Davidson, who served in the Iraq War, was handed the fort’s flag by Thomas Schoenbeck, central regional director of the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command. The interaction occurred on a bluff overlooking the harbor with the flags of all 50 states waving in the background in a gentle breeze.
Fort Hamilton, located in Bay Ridge, is the only active military base in New York City. The fort was built in 1825.
Davidson succeeds Col. Eluyn Gines, the fort’s commander for the past three years. Gines is moving on to a new post as executive officer for the adjutant general corps at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.