To honor its outgoing deputy commanding general and welcome its newest deputy commanding officer, the “Big Red One” will host a Victory with Honors ceremony at 4 p.m. July 25 at the 1st Infantry Division headquarters building on Fort Riley.
Brig. Gen. Richard R. Coffman has served as the 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley deputy commanding general for maneuver since September 2017. During his time with the division, Coffman served as mission commander of U.S. Army Europe’s division-level headquarters in support of the Atlantic Resolve mission.
While deployed, Coffman and the 1st Inf. Div. demonstrated the Big Red One’s readiness by moving the entire tactical command post hundreds of miles from Poznań, Poland, to Orzysz, Poland, where they conducted command and control operations during the Saber Strike 18 exercise, Europe’s largest joint, multinational exercise.
Coffman will next serve as director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team in Warren, Michigan.
The division’s incoming deputy commanding officer for maneuver is Col. Patrick R. Michaelis. Michaelis most recently served as executive officer to the under secretary of the U.S. Army and was previously the operations officer for the 1st Inf. Div. at Fort Riley.
