Fort Bragg 18th Airborne general retiring

FORT BRAGG, NC (AP) — Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps are saying good-bye to their commanding general.

The Corps holds a relinquishment of command and retirement ceremony Tuesday for Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick.

He took command in November 2009, and since then the corps has had scheduled deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as an emergency mission to Haiti. He was in charge of daily operations during the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq last year.

Helmick’s deputy, Maj. Gen. Rodney Anderson, will be in charge until the arrival of Lt. Gen. Dan Allyn in June.

The ceremony will be held at Fort Bragg’s Main Post Flag Pole. If the weather is bad, the ceremony will be held in Hangar 4 of Pope Field.

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