Col. Don Davis, MCLB-Albany commanding officer, preparing to leave for next assignment

MCLB-ALBANY — Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany Commanding Officer Col. Don Davis is expected to leave for his next assignment in late May.

Officials with the base confirmed Wednesday that Davis will be leaving following a change of command set to take place late next month. He is to continue his career with U.S. Northern Command at Colorado Springs, Colo.

“It really is, and will continue to be, hard to put into words just how much the opportunity and my tenure of command here in Albany has meant to me and my family,” the colonel said in a statement to The Albany Herald. “Southwest Georgia will always hold a significant place in my heart and be a place I know I can always call home, even if not physically here.

“I know the Base, community and region as a whole will embrace the rest of our current staff and my successor with the same open arms and a willingness to continue moving forward toward continued progress, prosperity and partnership,” he said. “Together we’ve built significant momentum that must grow to secure long-term success. We have made great strides and I believe you all will continue to do so.

“I am very humbled to have had the opportunity and it is now time to pass the baton onto the next set of very capable hands. We have been and will always be, One Country, One Corps and One Community, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

At the Albany-Dougherty Industry Celebration Week Rise N Shine breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn on Wednesday, it was stated that the event would be his last public appearance. A formal announcement from the installation is expected in the coming days regarding the change of command.

Davis took the MCLB-Albany command on May 25, 2012, with the departure of Brig. Gen. Terry Williams, who was a colonel when he commanded the base. Williams became a brigadier general last year.

Davis, 47, is a native of Dover, N.J. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. and received a bachelor of science degree in management. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in May 1990.

Davis is a graduate of the Advanced Logistics Officers Course and the Marine Corps Logistics Education Program at Penn State. He also holds a master’s degree in public administration from Webster University, graduating with high honors in March 1996.

The colonel’s awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal with two stars, Navy Commendation Medal (gold star in lieu of second award), Navy Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Unit Commendation with one star, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Medal with one star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with two stars, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with seven stars, United Nations Medal, NATO Medal ISAF Afghanistan and the Kuwait Liberation Medal.