By: Kylen Mills
kmills@cbs4qc.com
The Rock Island Arsenal is saying goodbye to a crucial leader today.
Lieutenant General Mick Bednarek will leave his role as commander of First Army to serve our country in Iraq.
Lt. Gen. Bednarek first came to the arsenal in July 2011 when he helped First Army transition its headquarters from long time home in George to its new home at the arsenal.
First Army reports they trained over 50,000 military members in 2012 alone.
The main mission of First Army is to advise and train army national guard and army reserve soldiers. They prepare these soldiers for deployment and help them both with demobilization and after they return home.
Tony Lopez of First Army Public Affairs says Lt. Gen. Bednarek was committed to keeping strong relationships with leaders in the community during his time in command.
Now after almost 2 years in this role, Bednarek will hand over the reigns. He's been assigned a new mission as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq.
His duties will be taken over by Major General Kevin Wendel until the Department of the Army chooses and permanent replacement.
To find out what Lt. Gen. Bednarek has to say about his time as commander and his memories of the Quad Cities, tune in tonight to 10 at 10 on CBS 4.
