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Cannon salute to welcome incoming SDDC commanding general

  • Published
  • By Command Affairs Office
  • HQ SDDC
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Cannons will sound on the Scott Air Force Base parade field Monday as Brig. Gen. James Hodge takes command of the U.S. Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command during a change of command ceremony starting at 10 a.m.

SDDC officials advise residents and others working near the parade field that they can expect the cannon salute between 10 and 11 a.m., and should not be alarmed. Officials also urge residents to turn off their car alarms during this timeframe.

General Hodge assumes command from Brig. Gen. Brian Layer, SDDC acting commanding general of SDDC.

Base personnel are invited to attend the change of command ceremony.

General Hodge served as SDDC's deputy commanding general from August 2005 to September 2007 and is returning from an assignment as commanding general (Forward) Army Materiel Command and Army's Coalition Forces Land Component Command's C4 Logistics and supply, Southwest Asia. He'll serve as SDDC's 16th commanding general.

General Hodge is a native of Norton, Ohio. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1978 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Transportation Corps.

His past assignments include serving as movements officer and data base analyst, 4th Transportation Brigade, Oberursel, Germany; operations research analyst and assignments officer, U.S. Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Va; supply officer, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash; transportation staff officer, United States European Command, Stuttgart, Germany; logistics action officer, Officer Personnel Management System XXI Task Force, U.S. Personnel Command, Alexandria, Va; logistics officer, Headquarters 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; and chief logistics plans division, United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

He received his master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. His military education includes the Transportation Officer Basic and Advance Courses, the Command and General Staff College, the Operations Research and System Analysis - Military Applications Course, Defense Language Institute where he studied French and the United States Army War College.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit with one oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with five oak leaf clusters and the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster.

SDDC provides global surface deployment and distribution services to meet the
nation's objectives. SDDC deploys and sustains more than 90 percent of the DoD's equipment and supplies by leveraging the capability of commercial industry
and other military services.

For more information about SDDC, visit http://www.sddc.army.mil/Public/Home