From One Montana Lt. Colonel to Another, Change of Command in Germany
Just shows you once again- Montanans are everywhere. Especially when it comes to military service.
Lt. Colonel Parker Hahn is a Glasgow, Montana native who has served 20-plus years on active duty with the US Army. On Friday, he is set to take over as a battalion commander in Germany. As it just so happens...and all by coincidence...he is taking over the battalion from a fellow Montanan- Lt. Colonel Nicole Charbonneau, a Billings native. Charbonneau will soon promote to full bird Colonel.
The battalion that Lt. Col. Hahn is taking over is the Army's Public Health Activity Rheinland-Pfalz. Currently, he is working at the European Regional Headquarters as the European Regional Nurse Advisor and deputy lead for the military health system.
After the change of command, Lt. Col. Charbonneau is heading to Fort Hood to be the Chief of the Nutrition Care Division.
According to the US Army, "Public Health Activity-RP provides veterinary support to all military communities in Germany and Belgium, encompassing sanitary audits of commercial food establishments and provision of food safety/defense and animal medicine. To support its mission, the Activity operates eight Veterinary Treatment Facilities in Germany, one in Belgium, and the Veterinary Medical Center Europe - the Army's premier, forward-deployed Role III medical and surgical center for Military Working Dogs."
Hahn is a 1998 graduate of Glasgow High school and attended college on a 4 year-ROTC Scholarship at Radford University in Virginia.
Charbonneau is a 1996 graduate from Senior High School in Billings. She got her undergraduate degree at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Here's the full audio of our chat with both colonels from Germany who joined us on "Montana Talks with Aaron Flint":
By the way, you can watch their change of command ceremony live for yourself. If you scroll to the end of the audio clip above, you'll hear the details. It will stream on the “Public Health Command Europe” Facebook page on May 20th.