Brig. Gen. Keith D. Jones took command of the 40th Infantry Division during a ceremony on Sunday, on Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB), Los Alamitos, succeeding Maj. Gen. Scott Johnson.
Brig. Gen. Keith D. Jones took command of the 40th Infantry Division during a ceremony on Sunday, on Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB), Los Alamitos, succeeding Maj. Gen. Scott Johnson.
Jones will command the 40th ID in his traditional, part-time National Guard role. He is also the full-time commander of the Cal Guard training base Camp Roberts. Jones is expected to be promoted to Major General in the near future in accordance with his new role at the 40th ID.
Jones previously served as the commander of the JFTB, where the 40th ID is based, for about two years, ending in June 2011. He assumed that role in 2009 after serving as the U.S. commander of the NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. He has also served as the assistant commander for the 40th ID.
“Brigadier General Jones is enthusiastic about this new challenge and wholeheartedly accepts the increased responsibility as the Commander, 40th Infantry Division,” Brig. Gen. Donald Currier, commander of the California Army National Guard, wrote in a memo announcing the move. “Under his leadership, the 40th Infantry Division and Joint Forces Training Base (JFTB) have successfully assisted in developing the California Army National Guard into the warfighting multiplier and Army Standard Installation that it is today.”
Johnson plans to retire after completing his current assignment. The 40th ID is a multi-unit division that includes the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, the 1-185th Armor Battalion and the 1-144th Field Artillery Battalion. Members of the Division have served overseas in every major war since World War I.
