One could almost call it a homecoming for Col. Paul Norwood.

After spending four years at Joint Base Lewis-McChord when he was a young child while his father served in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from 1968 to 1972, Norwood returned to the base Wednesday morning as the new 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade commander.

Norwood took over command of the brigade from Col. Robert Whalen Jr. at a ceremony in front of about 600 soldiers at Soldiers Field House on JBLM.

"What's really interesting is talking with my father about how much the post has changed from his perspective," Norwood said.

Norwood previously served as director of intelligence in a Joint Task Force in Afghanistan. Prior to that assignment he served as the senior intelligence officer on the

1st Infantry Division general staff at Fort Riley, Kan. His military awards include the Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal with V device, the Combat Action Badge and the Parachutist Badge.

"The opportunity to command at the brigade level is something that I'm absolutely proud of," said Norwood, who was born at Fort Benning, Ga. "My family and I are tremendously delighted to be a part of the 201st team."

The 201st BSB returned in September from a 12-month deployment to Iraq. While there, the unit generated more than 7,900 intelligence reports. It also lost one soldier, Spc. Faith Hinkley, who died in a rocket attack outside of her base near Baghdad.

"(Norwood) grew up in an intel community - he has the right skills to lead this unit into the future," said Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, I Corps commander.

One of the first items to tackle for Norwood is overseeing the formation of a new cavalry squadron.

"You have the tremendous capacity of all the soldiers, NCOs and officers who have been with the unit," Norwood said. "So as we transition and transform, which our nation has done now for 10 years, it's not new. We'll react to that. Certainly bringing along an entirely new cavalry squadron is a great capability for General Scaparraotti."