SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — In the late 1990s, a freshly minted second lieutenant from West Point took command of a platoon in the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii.
On Thursday, Maj. Gen. Jeffrey VanAntwerp took command of the entire division.
“What’s truly remarkable about Jeff is his connection to this division on the field to the front,” Lt. Gen. Matthew McFarlane, commander of I Corps, said during a ceremony at Schofield Barracks during which VanAntwerp assumed command from Maj. Gen. James Bartholomees.
“From second lieutenant to major general, the 25th Infantry Division is the only division he’s ever served in,” McFarlane said. “He knows its terrain, he knows its people, he knows its culture. He’s a proven combat warfighter who understands the critical necessity of partnership in this theater and embodies the principle that true leaders absorb heat and emit light.”
VanAntwerp most recently commanded U.S. Special Operations Command Pacific headquartered in Hawaii.
He was a company commander in the 25th ID’s Stryker brigade combat team at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and in Iraq from 2004 to 2006.
He returned to the 25th ID in 2020 as deputy commander for operations.
“So yeah, I spent a lot of time in the 25th Infantry Division,” VanAntwerp told the audience.
“You know, in one form or another, this is the only tactical division I’ve ever served in, and really the most formative times of my life, both professionally and personally, happened in this division, albeit in 1st Brigade, 25th ID, at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the time when I was a captain and company commander.”
Bartholomees, who will become superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, commanded the 25th ID for only 12 months.
But it was an eventful year, McFarlane said.
“The 25th Division has made significant structural and technical technological overhauls over the last year to meet the operational challenge our nation now faces,” he said.
“The Lightning Division pioneered the transition of our light infantry forces into the mobile brigade combat team structure, fielding Infantry Squad Vehicles, delivering highly agile forces capable of traversing extreme terrain at strategic distances.”
Under Bartholomees, the division brought its “artillery architecture into the 21st century” by fielding 16 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers, or HIMARS, he said.
The HIMARS, which replaced 14 howitzers, “bring unprecedented precision and reach directly to the division’s deep fight,” he said.
“The 25th became a prototyping division for our next generation command-and-control system established in the future, not just for this unit and I Corps, but for the Army, and demonstrated how to employ electromagnetic deception to hide in plain sight,” he said.
Bartholomees told the soldiers assembled in formation on the field that he was inspired by their tenacity, positive attitude and ingenuity.
He touted the Army’s move last month approving the Jungle Tab for permanent, service-wide wear, rather than only for soldiers assigned to U.S. Army Pacific.
The tab can be earned at courses at Schofield Barracks and in Panama.
“Today, the division boasts its own badge-producing school and our Jungle Operations Training Course, forged over the last 14 years, and now rests on the shoulders and the hats of many within this division,” he said.