New commander named for I Corps and JBLM. He has extensive combat experience

There is a new commander of I Corps and Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Lt. Gen. Xavier T. Brunson assumed command at a ceremony Wednesday, the Army announced.

Brunson replaces Lt. Gen. Randy George, who left in June after being named a senior military assistant for the Secretary of Defense.

Brunson previously served as I Corps’ deputy commanding general and commanded the 7th Infantry Division from August 2019 to May 2021.

“Xavier is well known and trusted by leaders and soldiers across our Army,” said Gen. Michael X. Garrett, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, who presided over Brunson’s promotion and assumption-of-command ceremony.

Garret recognized Brunson’s extensive military service, which includes six combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“... in the brief periods that he has not spent leading soldiers in combat, he has been training soldiers for combat, which is why I find great comfort in knowing that Xavier Brunson is at the helm of I Corps, making sure that this team stays ready for its many important missions,” Garrett added in a news release.

Brunson noted I Corps’ importance to the Indo-Pacific region.

“It is my plan, it is my intent, and it is my desire, that I be visible not only to our community and our partners, therein, but also to the soldiers of America’s First Corps,” Brunson said in a news release. “People are our most important resource. Their time, their treasure and their families are important to me, because it’s important to my team. It’s important that I be the example they can look to.

“We have ‘no fail’ missions in the Indo-Pacific region. Our adversary, there, is incrementally insidious, and we have to meet that threat. That means we’ve got to be trained, we have to train hard, we have to train well, we have to have standards, and we have to meet those standards, every day.”

More than 40,000 military personnel and 14,000 civilian employees work at JBLM.