Lt. Gen. Michael S. Cederholm, selected almost 11 months ago to take over the Marines’ largest warfighting unit, finally took the helm at Camp Pendleton, calling the I Marine Expeditionary Force “America’s hammer.”
“We come to fight, and we come to win,” Cederholm said during the long-delayed change of command ceremony held Friday, Feb. 16. “I’m excited to get after it and get into the attack.”
Cederhom, who previously served at the Pentagon as the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for aviation, is taking over the command of the nearly 44,000 Marines and sailors from Lt. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, who had assumed the duties in August when a stall in the Senate confirmation process for general officers kept Cederholm from taking his job.
Cederhom had been nominated for the post by President Joe Biden in March. At least 300 senior military officers within the Department of Defense were impacted by the delay, with some only now taking their new jobs at bases across the nation and beyond.
Before leading the I Marine Expeditionary Force, Gering led the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Miramar, one of the force’s 11 subordinate units. The posting in August to Camp Pendleton delayed his promotion to lieutenant general and his orders to take over as deputy commandant of aviation.
Friday’s ceremony included a moment of silence for five Marines – known as the Flying Tigers from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361– who were killed when their CH-53 Super Stallion crashed on Feb. 6 in Eastern San Diego County.
Senior military leaders at the ceremony included Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. There were also city officials from towns bordering the base and representatives from support groups in Southern California that have adopted battalions within the I Marine Expeditionary Force.
San Clemente Mayor Victor Cabral sat beside Del Toro during the ceremony; he said it was…
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