The Montana Army National Guard’s 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, headquartered in Kalispell, has a new command sergeant major in charge.
During a Jan. 12 change of responsibility ceremony at the Kalispell Armed Forces Reserve Center, Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Mooney handed over responsibility for the battalion to Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Perkio.
Mooney, who deployed with the 495th to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013, will move to Butte to lead the 1889th Regional Support Group, where he will be responsible for all deployment units in Montana.
During the ceremony, Mooney said that it was a bittersweet moment to relinquish responsibility of the 495th.
“I’m leaving my family behind,” he said. “We’ve trained together, we’ve sweated together; we’ve done some amazing things together.”
Mooney reflected on the battalion’s recent deployment to Afghanistan, where they oversaw hundreds of convoys over thousands of miles, and through attention to detail, brought all the soldiers back safely.
“To each and every one of the soldiers in the 495th: Thank you,” Mooney said. “I leave you in good hands with Sgt. Maj. Perkio.”
In the Montana Army National Guard, Perkio has served as the evidence custodian and MPI section chief with the 143rd MP Detachment; as chemical operations specialist, squad leader, platoon sergeant and first sergeant with the 631st Chemical Company; as operations sergeant for the 495th; and as commandant of HQ 208th Regiment.
Perkio’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Montana Army National Guard Campaign Ribbon, and many more.
When not serving in the National Guard, Perkio is a regional manager with the state’s Child Support Enforcement Division. He is married to Lori, with whom he shares two daughters and one grandchild.
Mooney originally enlisted in the Montana Army National Guard in 1982, and was first assigned to the 495th in 2006 as the operations NCO. In 2007, he completed the Sergeants Major Academy, and was deployed in 2008 as an embedded training team member with the Second Battalion, Second Brigade, 201st Corps of the Afghan National Army.
When he returned from Afghanistan, he was assigned as the senior mechanical maintenance NCO of the 495th. Mooney first became a command sergeant major in 2011 with the 190th CSSB in Billings, and returned to take responsibility for the 495th later that year.
Mooney’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two bronze stars, and many more.
Outside of the National Guard, Mooney has worked as a civilian technician for the Department of Defense in Missoula for 20 years.
During the Jan. 12 ceremony, Lt. Col. Donald Gillespie thanked Mooney for his outstanding leadership, and thanked Mooney’s wife DeeAnn, and his children Kellen and Kendall, for sharing him with the National Guard.
Gillespie also said Perkio is an “outstanding, stellar, top-notch senior NCO,” and he should be pleased with the soldiers and NCOs of the 495th.
“They’re some of the best in the Montana Army National Guard, bar none,” Gillespie said.