When Major General Jason E. Kelly hands over command of Fort Jackson to Major General Daryl O. Hood in a ceremony next week, he will leave behind a proud legacy.

This legacy serves to prepare the army for possible conflicts.

“Our mission is vital and demands our best,” Kelly said. “Our legacy must be one of selfless service, strong leadership and adaptability. I believe we have accomplished this and built our legacy based on our actions, not our words. Robert Louis Stevenson’s quote about the future, ‘Judge each day not by the harvest you reap, but by the seed you plant,’ should guide our team as we strive to ensure Fort Jackson remains a desirable destination for Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians and their families.”

Kelly endorses the motto “We make American soldiers” as a mantra that guides the post’s actions.

“As the Army’s largest training base, we have a tremendous impact on our Army’s daily operational readiness,” he said.

“We impact and change our Army every day through our actions with Basic Combat Training, Future Soldier Preparatory Course, Advanced Individual Training, Victory Holistic Health and Fitness, Drill Sergeant Timothy Kay Soldier Performance Readiness Center and Basic Skills Training, to name a few.”

These activities are all embedded in the Postal Service’s four lines of action: strengthening the profession, training and development of leaders, quality of life and community engagement. Kelly called these “the playbook” the Postal Service uses to turn ideas into action.

“The entire essence of the installation is focused on providing educated Soldiers and leaders today who are relevant tomorrow,” Kelly said. “Whether it’s training military chaplains at the U.S. Army Institute for Religious Leadership, conducting Advanced Individual Training at the Soldier Support Institute, providing graduate courses in psychophysiological deception detection at the National Center for Credibility Assessment, or training Soldiers in basic training in combat training… training is what we do at Fort Jackson.”

“We are creating operational readiness for our army today and tomorrow.”

Kelly will miss the Fort Jackson community and its partners in the Midlands as he departs to become deputy commanding general for civil works and emergency operations with the Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, DC.

He described the relationship with the areas surrounding the facility as “great” and an essential part of the post’s successful mission.

“The Midlands community, the state of South Carolina and Fort Jackson are interconnected and must continue to be closely intertwined and on a common path,” he said.

He called on Fort Jackson to continue to lead the Army’s readiness.

“Never lose sight of what we are doing here,” he said. “We are training American soldiers! We are training disciplined, trained, physically fit, resilient and morally grounded soldiers for the nation. The leaders and soldiers we provide to the Army are our legacy.”