The top officer and enlisted positions at Fort Leonard Wood’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School both changed Saturday as Brig. Gen. Thomas Spoehr and Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Alston turned over their positions.
The CBRN School’s next commander is Col. Leslie Smith, who was most recently assigned to the 20th Support Command in Edgewood, Maryland, where he was responsible  for operations and training in a role focused on eliminating weapons of mass destruction and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats worldwide. He previously commanded the 3rd Chemical Brigade at Fort Leonard Wood.
The new regimental command sergeant major is Ted A. Lopez.
Dual changes-of-command and changes of responsibility are unusual, and Alston said he appreciated the gesture.
“How many general officers do you know who would say, ‘I will share my day with you, because this is all about what you and the soldiers have done?’” Alston asked.
Maj. Gen. Bill McCoy, Fort Leonard Wood’s commander, said Spoehr and Alston have been a major part of transforming the reputation of the Chemical Corps from a group of soldiers who actually knew where a unit’s gas masks were located into a proactive corps seeking ways to combat threats.
“There are people out there who want to destroy our way of life, and their agent of choice is weapons of mass destruction,” McCoy said. “At the end of the day, when you see Tom Spoehr leading his regiment, America is a safer place because of the things he has done.”
Spoehr said he appreciated the support he’s received from McCoy and many others at Fort Leonard Wood, as well as soldiers at the CBRN school.
“Fort Leonard Wood is a great platform from which to launch the regiment and do what we need to do,” Spoehr said, noting specifically Alston’s role in helping fix “our longstanding sergeant shortage” in the Army Chemical Corps.