CONTACT: Lt. Col Richard Goldenberg, richard.goldenberg@us.army.mil

FOR RELEASE: Thursday, Dec 10, 2009

CAMP CHITOSE, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN -- (12/10/2009)(readMedia)-- New York Army National Guard 42nd Division Commander Brig. Gen. Steven N. Wickstrom (left), a resident of Upton, Massachusetts near Boston, presented Japanese Lt. Gen. Hiroshi Yamamoto, commander of the 7th Division, Japan Ground Defense Forces, pose with a Red Sox t-shirt during a break in training on Dec. 10. The Red Sox baseball club is famous throughout Japan because of the performance of Daisuke Matsuzaka, a native Japanese pitcher who plays in Boston. Matsuzaka's name and number appear on the back of the t-shirt presented to Yamamoto. Wickstrom told Yamamoto that as commander of a New York National Guard unit, he was sure that the gift would shock his own staff, but it was representative of his hometown. The two military units are taking part in Yama Sakura 57, the bilateral command post training exercise with members of the Japan Ground Self Defense Forces. The 42nd Division provided Yamamoto and his division staff with an overview of U.S. Army command and control technologies and techniques along with an overview of the division's history with the Army National Guard. Photo by Staff Sgt. Raymond Drumsta, 138th Public Affairs Detachment. Wickstrom took command of the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division in May of 2009, after serving as deputy commander. An Iraq war veteran and 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Wickstrom served primarily in infantry units in both the Active Army and the Army National Guard. He has commanded at all levels to include an Anti-Tank Company, a Light Infantry Battalion and an Infantry Brigade. Before serving as the Deputy Commanding General of the 42nd Infantry Division, Wickstrom was deployed to Iraq as Team Leader of the Joint Center for Operational Analysis, United States Joint Forces Command at Camp Victory. Prior to that, Brig. Gen. Wickstrom served as the Strategic Plans and Joint Exercise and Training Officer with the Joint Forces Headquarters, Massachusetts Army National Guard. He commanded the 26th Infantry Brigade, 29th Infantry Division (Light), the 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry, 29th Infantry Division (Light), and Company D, 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Division, 26th "Yankee" Infantry Division (Light).

Attachments: