Col. Gregory Gadson relieved outgoing Fort Belvoir commander Col. John J. Strycula at a change of command ceremony at the installation on Monday.

Col. Gadson comes to Fort Belvoir after serving as the director of the Army's Wounded Warrior program. Gadson, who was wounded in Iraq in 2007, is the first bi-lateral amputee to command an Army installation. Gadson also starred in the film Battleship, which was released late this spring.

Ceremony host Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter of the Installation Management Command, said of Gadson, “he was a leader on the football field and on the battle field.” Gadson played football as a cadet at West Point and served in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other conflicts and contingencies since his graduation in 1989.

Col. Strycula commanded Fort Belvoir during the implementation of the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005 (BRAC). He wished Gadson well in his remarks at the ceremony and reflected on his own tenure, quoting children’s author Dr. Suess, “don’t cry that it’s over, smile that it happened.”