From Commander of the Trooper Battalion to Commander of Fort Bliss
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May 26, 2010 • Colonel Powell, Guest Reporter
Filed under News & Events, Top Stories
In a true to life example of “local student makes it big”, Eastwood’s own Dana Pittard has been selected to command Fort Bliss. While the date for the change of command has yet to be officially announced, reliable sources report that it may be as soon as this upcoming July. Whenever it occurs, now Major General Pittard will command one of the fastest growing U.S. Military bases in the world as Ft Bliss continues its transformation from an Air Defense Artillery centric post with a population of about 20,000 soldiers to the home of the 1st Armor Division Headquarters and almost 40,000 soldiers.
Major General) Pittard graduated from Eastwood High School in 1977 where he was active in JROTC, Student Council and a host of other clubs and activities. He went on to graduate from the United States Military Academy in 1981 as an Armor Officer. Immediately after graduating, he attended the Armor Officer Basic Course and was subsequently assigned with the 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Riley, Kansas in 1982. He served as a Tank Platoon Leader and Tank Company Executive Officer in 2-63 Armor; then as a Scout Platoon Leader and Battalion S1 in 3-37 Armor.
In 1984, he served as an Admissions Officer at West Point; and in 1985 was assigned to Bad Kissingen, Germany, as the Squadron S4 for 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR). In October 1986, Pittard commanded E Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th ACR until May 1988. He next commanded Fox Company, 40th Armor (Berlin Brigade) from June 1988 until March 1990. In April 1990, he commanded D Company, 1-37 Armor at Vilseck, Germany, and led his unit in combat in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Upon returning to Germany, he served as an Assistant S3 in 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. He next served at Fort Hood, Texas as the Assistant G3, Chief of Plans and Exercises for 2nd Armored Division; the S3 for 1-67 Armor; and then as the S3, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.
After his promotion to Major, General Pittard served as a Military Aide to President Bill Clinton from November 1996 until January 1999. In June 1999 to Jun 2001, now Lieutenant Colonel Pittard commanded of 1-32 Armor/1-14 Cavalry at Fort Lewis, Washington as a part of the Army’s first Stryker Brigade.
Following promotion to full Colonel, COL Pittard took command of 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in July 2002 and led the unit on deployments to Kosovo (2002–2003) and to Iraq (2004–2005).
Here, COL Pittard received accolades for deftly employing his soldiers in a variety of challenging environments to achieve tactical and political success. In Iraq, COL Pittard was quoted in a New York Times article as saying, ”War is more than just killing people. We were trying to gain the trust and confidence of (the Iraqi) people.” In 2006, now Brigadier General (one star) Pittard would return to Iraq and as Commander of the Iraq Assistance Group, the unit charged with developing the Iraqi Security Forces.
Almost immediately after departing Iraq in Jun 2007, BG Pittard assumed command of the U.S Army Training Center located at Fort Irwin, CA. While at Ft Irwin, BG Pittard did something that I never witnessed in my 25 years of active military/civilian service to our nation – in 2007, seeing himself as one of the more physically fit soldiers at Fort Irwin, he did not think he needed (the eight) preferential parking spots close to his office, the commissary and other buildings on post so he changed his spaces into “expectant mother only” parking. The signs had a stork carrying a baby and sat in front of many commonly used buildings at Fort Irwin. At the time, BG Pittard said that he did not mind giving up his space and walking a few extra yards… so that expectant mothers could park closer to the base exchange, commissary and other activities. From Ft Irwin, he would go on become the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Training at TRADOC in March 2009.
In Dec 2010, BG Pittard after was promoted to Major General rumors started circulating that he might return to El Paso in the summer of 2010 to command Ft Bliss.
MG Pittard has received numerous awards for exemplary service to the nation during his storied career to include the Bronze Star with Valor Device. He is also authorized to wear the Army Ranger Tab and, Airborne and Air Assault Badges.
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