Lt. Col. Robert Stealey, a Whitesboro resident and Iraq War veteran, takes charge of NY National Guard training battalion

Camp Smith Training Site, N.Y. (05/22/2019) — New York Army National Guard Lt. Col. Robert Stealey, a Whitesboro resident and a veteran of the Iraq War, took command of a training battalion based at Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill on Saturday, May 18.

Stealey replaced Lt. Col. James M. Cahill, a Clifton Park resident, as commander of the 1st Battalion, 106th Regiment (Regional Training Institute).

The unit provides training for Soldiers from the New York Army National Guard and other states as infantrymen and medics and also runs the Officer Candidate School.

In 2008 the unit deployed to Afghanistan and assisted in training the Afghan National Army.

Cahill is moving on to a job as personnel director for the 10,000-member New York Army National Guard.

Stealey has served in the Army National Guard since 1999 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant after completing Officer Candidate School in 2001.

Stealey deployed to Iraq in 2004-2005 as a platoon leader and then company executive officer in the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry. The unit was based in Samara, Iraq and served under the command of the 1st Infantry Division.

He deployed again to Kuwait in 2012-2013 as part of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Military Engagement Team at Camp Arifjan.

Stealey most recently deployed to Ukraine in 2017-2018 as the chief of staff and executive officer of the 27th Brigade (Forward) which was in command of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine, a NATO effort to train the Ukranian Army.

He has also served in a number of other leadership positions to include brigade and cavalry squadron operations officer, and company commander.

His awards include the Valorous Unit Award, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal National Defense Service Metal, Iraq Campaign Metal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Metal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Oversees Service Ribbon, and Combat Infantry Badge and (Airborne) Pathfinder Badge.

Stealey earned a Bachelor's of Science degree from Cortland College in Science Education in 1992. He earned a Master's degree from Plattsburgh College in Instructional Curriculum and Assessment in 1996.

He and his wife Tammy have two sons: Jordan and Hunter.

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