Pentagon picks familiar face to lead Special Forces

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Pentagon picks familiar face to lead Special Forces
By Henry Cuningham
Military editor

The Army has selected Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko to command U.S. Army Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Csrnko has been commander of Special Operations Command, Europe at Patch Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany, since August 2003.

He will replace Brig. Gen. John F. Mulholland, who became the leader of the Army’s Green Berets on Sept. 30. Mulholland’s next assignment has not been announced, said Maj. Jim Gregory, a command spokesman.

Special Forces Command has about 9,500 soldiers in five active-duty Special Forces groups, including the 3rd Group and 7th Group at Fort Bragg. Two groups are in the National Guard. The command trains and prepares Special Forces units to deploy and conduct missions around the world.

Csrnko commanded the 1st Special Forces Group at Fort Lewis, Wash., from 1998 to 2000 and then served as deputy commander/assistant commandant of the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg. The school oversees how Special Forces train and fight.

Csrnko said in an interview in 2001 that he only met one person who correctly guessed the origin of his name, which is pronounced “schronko.”

‘‘The nationality is Wendish,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a Gypsy nationality on the Austria-Hungary border prior to World War II. With the German invasion, they went and settled in southern Yugoslavia.’’

He grew up in Bethlehem, Pa., where his father worked for a steel company for 35 years. His passions are sports, the outdoors and scouting.

Csrnko was commissioned through Army ROTC at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree. He began his Army career in the infantry, spent time in tank units and commanded Special Forces organizations that work in the Middle East and the Pacific Ocean nations.

He graduated from the Special Forces Officer Qualification Course at Fort Bragg and then commanded an A-team and a company in the the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg.

From 1985 to 1988, he was inspector general of the JFK Center.

From 1993 to 1995, he commanded the 1st Battalion of the 5th Group, which had relocated to Fort Campbell, Ky.
Military editor Henry Cuningham can be reached at cuninghamh 'at' fayettevillenc.com or 486-3585.