LATHAM, N.Y. (AP) - Officials say New York Army National Guard Lt. Col. James Freehart of Troy has been selected to command the Buffalo-based 153rd Troop Command.
Freehart is an Afghan war veteran who has been commander of the 204th Engineer Battalion headquartered in Binghamton since 2011. Under his command the unit responded to Tropical Storms Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy, as well as summer flooding in the Mohawk Valley in 2013.
He replaces Saratoga Springs resident Col. James Pabis as 153rd Troop Command commander.
Pabis will become deputy commander of the 53rd Troop Command, a New York Army National Guard general officer command responsible for about 4,300 soldiers.
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