The current commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, will be heading to serve as the new chief of staff for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

Maj. Gen. Ronald P. Clark, 25th ID commander, will be replaced by Maj. Gen. James B. Jarrard.

Jarrard is coming from the role of director of operations for U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. Before that, he served as the commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force for the anti-Islamic State mission in Iraq and Syria.

Clark first assumed command of the 25th ID on Jan. 4, 2018. He was commissioned through the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1988 and served in the Pacific at multiple points in his career, including a company command with the 25th ID and a stint as the aide-de-camp to the 25th ID’s commanding general.

Clark also previously served as the chief of staff for U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

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Clark will be joining Indo-Pacific Command at a time in which the Army is increasingly preparing for operations in the Pacific theater.

If the U.S. military were to defend against an aggressive Chinese attack on disputed territory, such as Taiwan or the Ryukyu Islands, existing air and sea ports may be within lethal range of China’s ballistic missiles and modernized air forces.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. James B. Jarrard, commanding general of Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, talks to Coalition advisors during a meeting in Dawr Az Zawr province, Syria, April 22, 2018. This meeting allowed the Coalition’s top leaders in the fight against ISIS to gain a better understanding of current operations within Syria’s Middle Euphrates River Valley. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)

Therefore, Army leadership has made it a top priority to develop long-range precision fires that can break through anti-access, area denial bubbles in the region.

Land forces in the Pacific have a higher chance of withstanding salvos of missiles than seaborne forces, and could conceivably keep lines of communication open for coordinating joint forces, as well as orchestrating cyber operations and responding with retaliatory strikes.

Indo-Pacific Command is currently led by Navy Adm. Phil Davidson.

The 25th ID regularly deploys across the Asia Pacific region and consists of Stryker, infantry, airborne and aviation brigades stationed across Hawaii and Alaska.

Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.

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