Two units receiving new leaders
Two Capital Region National Guard units have new commanders.
New York Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Thomas Spencer, a two-tour veteran of the Iraq War and the Persian Gulf War, has assumed command of the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division during a ceremony at New York National Guard Headquarters in Latham. Spencer replaces Maj. Gen. Steven Ferrari of Winslow Township, N.J.
New York Air National Guard Col. Christian E. Sander of Lake George took command of the 109th Airlift Wing during a ceremony at Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia. Sander replaces Col. Michele Kilgore who has been reassigned to the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Spencer has been serving as the deputy commander of sustainment for the 10,500-member New York Army National Guard since March 2018. Spencer of York, Maine, previously served as the assistant deputy commander of Sustainment, for the 42d Infantry Division during a year-long deployment to the Middle East in 2020.
He is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield — Desert Storm where he served as platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery from September 1990 to March 1991
As a company commander in the 4th Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment he served as part of Operation Restore Hope, in Mogadishu, Somalia from December 1993 to March 1994. He has also served as assistant division aviation officer for the 1st Armored Division, (Forward), in Bosnia from December 1995 — December 1996. He served in Iraq from January 2004 to January 2005 as the operations officer of the 197th
Field Artillery Brigade.
Spencer earned a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Southern Maine and a master’s in strategic studies from the Army War College. He also is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College. He has earned a Legion of Merit with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, a Meritorious Service Medal with three Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, an Army Commendation Medal with one Silver Oak Leaf Cluster, an Army Achievement Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Unit Commendation, an Army Superior Unit Award, Armed Forces Reserve Components Achievement Medal with four Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Aviator Badge and a Parachutist Badge. In civilian life, Spencer is a
pharmaceutical sales manager for Astellas Urological in New England and eastern New York.
The 42nd Infantry Division has 20,000 soldiers assigned to elements in New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New Hampshire.
Sander officially took command of the wing when Kilgore departed in mid-december but he was deployed to New Zealand and Antarctica as part of the wing’s regular support for National Science Foundation research in Antarctica. He previously served as the 109th Airlift Wing vice commander. The 109th Airlift Wing flies the LC-130H “Skibird” the largest aircraft in the world with the ability to land on ice and snow. The wing supports science research in Antarctica and Greenland, as well as operations
in polar regions. Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, recognized Kilgore for her service and praised Sander as a capable leader.
His role, Shields told Sander, is to be “laser focused” on building the strength of the 109th Airlift Wing while maintaining combat readiness and being able to handle New York State missions like the COVID 19 response.
Sander joined the 109th Airlift Wing in 1990. He earned his commission as a second lieutenant in April of 1991 through the Academy of Military Science at Mcghee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn. After attending undergraduate pilot training he completed C-130 flight training in Little Rock, Ark.
Sander has served as an aircraft
commander, a flight instructor and Chief of Antarctic Operations, as well as the wing chief of plans, chief of current operations and a flight examiner. He is a command pilot who has amassed more than 4,350 flying hours. His other roles during his military career included serving as executive officer for the chief of staff of the New York Air National Guard, Operations Support Flight and squadron commander, deputy maintenance group commander, the 109th Operations Group commander.
Sander earned a bachelor of science interdisciplinary engineering from Clarkson University. He also graduated from the Air Force Squadron Officers School, the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. His military awards include a Meritorious Service Medal, an Aerial Achievement Medal, a Combat Readiness Medal and a Humanitarian Service Medal.
Soldier advances: Nicholas Suhr of Delmar, an Iraq war veteran, has been promoted to lieutenant colonel while serving as the deputy personnel officer for the New York Army National Guard.