Belvoir-based CITF gets new commander

Lt. Col. Steven M. Lynch assumed the leadership of the Department of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force during a change of command ceremony last week.

Lynch, a native of Pennsylvania who has been in the Army for more than 21 years, has been the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) inspector general for the past 16 months. Before that, Lynch commanded the Washington District CID battalion.

Lynch, who is expected to be promoted to colonel in early 2007, assumed the command of CITF during a ceremony Friday at the Wood Theater attended by about 130 people.

“I am absolutely thrilled and excited to join the CITF family,” Lynch said. “The organization has a tremendous reputation. It is a reputation that’s built on sister service and interagency cooperation that is mission-focused.

“I intend to continue the tradition that has been the legacy of past CITF commanders by building strong relationships between people and to work hard to establish and to nurture the personal links essential to a climate of trust and confidence.”

The task force’s primary mission is conducting highly sophisticated and sensitive criminal investigations for the DoD in support of the Global War on Terrorism at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but it also conducts criminal investigations of suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The task force has special agents from the Army, Navy and Air Force’s law enforcement investigative agencies – the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and CID, also headquartered at Fort Belvoir.

The task force falls under the responsibility of Brig. Gen. Rodney L. Johnson, the commander of CID who selected Lynch for the position and officiated the change of command ceremony. Johnson also serves as the Army provost marshal general.

Johnson said that the task force works on “some of the most difficult, most sensitive and most important cases in the CID command.”

Lynch is the task force’s fourth commander since it was activated on Feb. 1, 2002, in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Col. David A. Smith, who had been the commander of CITF since July, is retiring from the Army after 26 years of service and will be honored during a retirement ceremony in January.

Smith helped establish the task force and remained at CITF until June 2003. After that, he attended the U.S. Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Va., and then subsequently returned to Fort Belvoir as the commander of the 701st Military Police Group (CID) before assuming command of CITF.

Johnson said that Smith has “made a difference” at the task force.

“The reputation the CITF enjoys today is absolutely exceptional and Dave Smith has been instrumental in building the superb reputation of the CITF since day one of its existence,” Johnson said. “He was instrumental in establishing interagency relationships within the law enforcement and intelligence communities that were critical for prosecuting the Global War on Terrorism.”

Smith said that his time at the Task Force has been challenging, exciting and rewarding – and among the best assignments he has had in the Army.

“I am proud to have had the opportunity to be part of the CITF team,” he said. “I am convinced the work the task force is doing is going to make its way into the history books.”

Now that he’s close to retirement, Smith said that he and his wife, Donna, have reached a destination of sorts. However, “it has never been about the destination, it has always been about the journey,” he said.

Editor’s note: Susan Leonard is the public affairs officer for the Department of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force.