YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison on Tuesday will take command of U.S. Army Japan, headquarted at Camp Zama in the Tokyo area.
Harrison comes to USARJ from the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, where since August 2009 he had served as the deputy director for requirements.
His most recent operational assignment was as deputy commanding general for support for the 10th Mountain Division (light infantry) at Fort Drum, N.Y. He also previously served as deputy commanding general for programs with the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan as well as a variety of commander and staff officer positions with air assault, light infantry and training units.
Harrison will succeed Maj. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, who came to USARJ in June 2008. Wiercinski is heading to Germany but has not been officially assigned to a command, pending approval for the job from Congress and the president, USARJ spokesman Maj. Randall Baucom said Friday.
During his tenure at Zama, Wiercinski saw the establishment of I Corps Forward, which is charged with establishing command and control operations for contingency combat or humanitarian operations in Japan. The corps reached initial operational capability in March and is expected to become fully operational in the coming months under Harrison’s command, Baucom said.
