WSMR

White Sands Missile Range gets a new commanding general

A joint color guard stands during the change of command ceremony at White Sands Missile Range. The Organ Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop.

Photo by Dave Burge

Brig. Gen. Eric Little is promoted from colonel to brigadier general. His mother does the honors of pinning his new “star” to his uniform.

Photo by Dave Burge

Brig. Gen. Eric Little, an Army aviator by trade, is the new commander at White Sands Missile Range.

Photo by Dave Burge

Brig. Gen. David Trybula receives the Legion of Merit for his outstanding service during his command at White Sands Missile Range. He is pinned by Maj. Gen. Jay Gallivan, the commanding general for the Army Test and Evaluation Command.

Photo by Dave Burge

An Army vehicle on display with the Organ Mountains in the background.

Photo by Dave Burge

Posted Thursday, May 27, 2021 12:42 pm

Quick facts: White Sands Missile Range

•Economic impact: Estimated at $5.3 million a day and $1.9 billion annually in Las Cruces, Doña Ana County and the surrounding Borderland region.

•Demographics: About 5,000 civilian employees, 350 service members from Army, Air Force and Navy, 930 housing residents and 300 elementary and middle-school students.

•Testing: More than 42,000 tests have been performed during past 76 years. About nine tests are done per day and more than 3,000 annually.

•Geography: More than 3,200 square miles, roughly the size of Rhode Island and Delaware. White Sands is about 17 percent of all the Army’s land.

•Air space: One of only two places in U.S. where the air space is not under the control of the Federal Aviation Administration. The other is the White House.

•Roads: More than 3,680 miles of paved and unpaved roads on White Sands Missile Range, which is the equivalent of driving from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles and then to Denver.

•Fiber optics: 2,100 miles of fiber optic connectivity.

Source: White Sands Missile Range

By Dave Burge

White Sands Missile Range, the Department of Defense’s largest test facility and range, has a new leader.

The sprawling Army post just outside of Las Cruces welcomed its new commanding officer Brig. Gen. Eric D. Little and said goodbye to Brig. Gen. David C. Trybula.

Trybula had led WSMR since July 2019. He was credited with helping the giant installation weather the Covid-19 pandemic while continuing to help the Army and all other branches of service test and evaluate new capabilities.

Trybula will now become the deputy commanding general for the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and the commanding general for the Army Natick Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. He will be stationed in Natick, outside of Boston.

Little, an Army aviator by trade, was promoted from colonel to brigadier general, or a one-star general, about an hour before taking command.

Little had previously served as the deputy commander for operations for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

Little was promoted in front of his parents, siblings and several of his grown children, who all participated in the ceremony.

Trybula was given the Legion of Merit for his outstanding service at the helm of WSMR. His wife, Jill, was give the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.

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