Gen. Paul Hamm accepted the flag of the Vicksburg-based 412th Engineer Command on Sunday, also receiving a promotion from brigadier to major general to match increases in the unit’s size, organization and missions.

During the late-morning ceremony at the Vicksburg Convention Center, Hamm assumed command from Maj. Gen. Robert Williamson.

“It is truly an honor to step into this position,” Hamm said to those at the ceremony, most of whom were in uniform.

Hamm, who has 34 years of Army service, including seven on active duty, takes over the top spot in the 10,000-member Army Reserve Unit after 4 1/2 years as deputy commanding general. From May 2004 through February 2005, Hamm stepped up to provide leadership while Williamson was deployed to Iraq.

“It should be a smooth transition,” said Hamm, who managed the unit locally while Williamson was deployed to Iraq from May 2004 to February 2005.

“I’m moving from one office 20 feet to another office, so it shouldn’t be too difficult,” he said.

The new leader said he plans to steer the command on a steady path following the groundwork laid by the former commander, with a management style much like that of Williamson, whom Hamm said was a personal friend and fellow 1973 West Point Military Academy graduate.

In the civilian world, Hamm is a project engineer for the agricultural water supply and protection of the aquifers in Eastern Arkansas with the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Filling Hamm’s previous position will be the former commander of the 493rd Engineer Group in Grand Prairie, Texas, Brig. Gen. William Buckler.

Also during the ceremony, Williamson was honored for his 3 1/2 years of leadership of the 412th Engineer Command, receiving the Presidential Distinguished Service Medal.

“It is quite humbling to be presented this award, as was it to be named commander of this unit,” said Williamson. “It was truly a privilege to command these tremendous soldiers.”

Williamson, who as a civilian is an environmental protection specialist with the Public Works Department of the Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington, Tenn., is departing the engineers for a Reserve position with 8th Army in Korea.

Before the changing of command and award presentation, Sunday’s hour-long ceremony featured a speech from Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He praised the unit for its efforts.

“Our world is changing,” he said. “And there needs to be more units like the 412th in order for our nation to be successful.”

In the 100th year of the U.S. Army Reserve, the Vicksburg-based 412th has grown from 240 members and now has units east of the Mississippi River from Maine to Florida. It maintains commitments in the Pacific, Korea, Germany and Southwest Asia. The units now include military police, chemical, public affairs and military history specialists and other military specialties, in addition to traditional engineer elements.

In a news release from the 412th Engineer Command last week, both Hamm and Williamson stressed the increase in significance and operations tempo at the engineer command over the past year. Along with planning the changes and writing new engineer doctrine, one of the most visible changes, they said, was increasing the full-time staff.

The new engineer doctrine “employs the use of deployable plugs of the command to meet the ever-changing needs of the Army around the world.” In the past, only individuals or units were mobilized. This new plan allows for the Army to send groups of experts to work particular missions, such as the stabilization and reconstruction work in Iraq.

The first test of the new doctrine was the recent deployment of 70-plus soldiers to Iraq on Jan. 25. They will work with civilians of the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

A second major change of command ceremony will occur later this month, also at the convention center. Brig. Gen. Robert Crear, commander of the Mississippi Valley Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission, is retiring from the Army. The MVD division flag will pass to Brig. Gen. Michael J. Walsh,