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Story by Spc. Adrian D. Wallace, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
[caption id="attachment_7843" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Maj. Fred Bates takes the flag of command from outgoing commander Lt. Col. Tamara Hurst during a ceremony conducted on the grounds of the old Kentucky state capitol building. (Photo by Spc. Adrian Wallace, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)"]
FRANKFORT, Ky. (May 5, 2011) — Maj. Fred W. Bates V accepted command of the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 2
nd Battalion, 75
th Recruiting and Retention on May 5 in a ceremony at the old capitol building in Frankfort.
Bates takes over for Lt. Col. Tamara Hurst, who commanded the unit since October 2008.
A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Bates returned home from deployment just in time to assume command of the nationally recognized and successful recruiting battalion.
The 2/75
th is approaching its eighth straight year of achieving and surpassing its assigned end strength mission, a mission that Bates takes very seriously.
[caption id="attachment_7846" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Maj. Fred Bates is the new commander of the Kentucky Army National Guard's 2/75th Recruiting and Retention Battalion. (Photo by Spc. Adrian Wallace, 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)"]
“I am excited to serve and lead the more than 800 Soldiers, contractors, and personnel in our battalion,” he said in his remarks. “This is an important job and I have complete faith in the ability of this great team and their desire to succeed.”
“Regardless of challenges that face us, we will not stop recruiting, " he added. "We will continue to recruit and retain the best and brightest in Kentucky.”
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