Charles Crosby Promoted to Rank of Colonel

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New York Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Patrick Murphy, The Adjutant General, right, promotes Col. Charles Crosby, Deputy Commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to his new rank of colonel

LATHAM, NY (12/02/2011)(readMedia)-- It took four stars to pin the new rank on New York Army National Guard Col. Charles Crosby.  Crosby, the Deputy Commander of the Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team,  based in Syracuse, received his promotion Nov. 19 from New York's two most senior officers, Maj. Gen. Patrick Murphy, The Adjutant General and Maj. Gen. Steven Wickstrom, the commander of the 42nd Infantry Division.

Crosby has 23 years of service to the Army and Army National Guard.  Commissioned in 1988, his initial assignment was with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Lt. Crosby left the active Army and transitioned to the New York Army National Guard in 1995, serving as an assistant operations officer and then planning officer on the staff of the 27th Infantry Brigade in Syracuse.

Crosby commanded Company C, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry from 1997 until 2000 when he became operations officer of the 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry and then 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry in 2001.

He transferred in 2003 to the Army National Guard Directorate Current Operations Division in Arlington, Va. in 2003, returning to New York a year later as the operations officer of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry in New York City as the battalion prepared for mobilization and deployment to Iraq.

During his combat tour, Crosby was reassigned as the battalion executive officer.  During his time in Iraq, Crosby was decorated for valor for exposing himself to enemy fire in order to rescue a wounded U.S. Soldier.  The battalion returned from Iraq in 2005.

In 2006, Crosby was selected to command the 69th Infantry and served as the battalion commander until 2008 when he returned to the Natioanl Gaurd Bureau as the Assistant Chief of Training and Deputy Operations Officer.

The Army selected Crosby to attend the Army War College in 2010 and upon graduation, he again returned to New York to serve as the Deputy Commander of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, now preparing for mobilization and deployment to Kuwait in early 2012.

Crosby's awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Mobilization Device, Army Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman's Badge, Expert Infantryman's Badge, Ranger Tab, Parachutist Badge and the Army Staff Identification Badge.