5/23/2013 -- CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Colonel James W. Clark Jr. relinquished position as the commanding officer of Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, during a relinquishing of command ceremony aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., May 22, 2013.
Colonel Erik B. Kraft will be the regiment’s new commanding officer.
More than 100 Marines, sailors, friends and family members attended the ceremony to bid farewell to Clark. The ceremony included the passing of the CLR-17 colors, remarks from the outgoing commander and performances by the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band.
Clark began his Marine Corps career 28 years ago and assumed command of CLR-17 in the summer of 2011. While serving as CLR-17’s commanding officer, Clark deployed to Afghanistan as the commanding officer of the Reset and Reconstitution Operations Group with 1 Marine Expeditionary Force (forward).
During the ceremony, Brig. Gen. John J. Broadmeadow, commanding general, 1st MLG, recognized Clark for his leadership.
“His leadership has set the standard,” Brig. Gen. Broadmeadow said. “As you and your wife step off to assume your new role, I can’t think of a better team to go back to the East Coast to set the standard as you have done here, to our East Coast brethren. I wish you fair winds and following seas my friend, and I look forward to serving with you again one day in the future. ”
Clark, a native of Tollesboro, Ky., is scheduled to be the new deputy commander of Marine Corps Installations East, but prior to leaving CLR-17, he addressed his Marines and sailors.
“I love this unit because these Marines can do anything and are very capable,” Clark said. “These Marines know what it means to be an expeditionary force. It’s being ready when you don’t know that you need to be ready, and I’m really proud of them for that.”