The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Headquarters Company held a Change of Command ceremony at Headquarters, Fort Detrick, Md. May 11. Lt. Col. Bernadette Fobbs, deputy chief of staff for Personnel/Troop commander, USAMRMC, oversaw the ceremony in which Capt. Aaron Northup relinquished command to Capt. Sumesh Sagar.

During Fobbs' speech, she commended Northup on a job well done during his 18 months in command. Northup is headed to Heidelberg, Germany, where he will serve as chief of logistics for the U.S. Army Hospital, Heidelberg.

"[Capt. Northup] reorganized all of the policies and procedures for the Headquarters Company, and that was itself a magnificent feat, considering he started from scratch, without even a note card to build from," said Fobbs. "Undaunted, he set about his mission, and now leaves the Headquarters Company with a solid way ahead, all within regulations."

Fobbs then thanked the incoming commander, Sagar, for accepting the challenge of leading the Headquarters Company. She praised him for his dedication and focus, while displaying a high regard for his previous accomplishments.

Fobbs said, "You were not selected because you were the closest or because you were the easiest to reach. You were selected because of your demonstrated leadership traits and your commitment to the ethos, 'I will always place the mission first.'"

Sagar has been with the U.S. Army for eight years, and his most recent assignment was serving as Aide-de-Camp to Maj. Gen. James K. Gilman, USAMRMC commanding general. He is a 2002 graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he earned a B.S. degree in Biology. Upon completion of the Medical Service Corps Officer Basic Course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 2004, Sagar's first assignment was with Division Support Command, 1st Cavalry, and he was deployed to Taji, Iraq, where he served as Medical Plans and Operations officer. In 2009, he joined the 6th Medical Logistics Management Center as its chief information management officer, and in 2011 he was selected to be Gilman's Aide-de-Camp.

As the sixth company commander since its establishment in 2005, Sagar remains very positive about the future of his company, which is tasked with providing command and control, readiness, administrative support, discipline, and morale and welfare support to Soldiers assigned/attached to the USAMRMC Headquarters Company.

"The Headquarters Company will continue to provide high-quality and responsive support that will allow the Soldiers and Civilians to focus on the overall USAMRMC mission of protecting, treating and optimizing Warfighter health and performance across the full spectrum of operations," said Sagar.