When Col. Christopher Cooksey takes command of the Mississippi National Guard’s largest unit Saturday, he’ll see a lifelong dream come true.

Cooksey, of Lincoln County, will accept the command of the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team from Col. Michael Dykes of Ocean Springs on Saturday during a change of command ceremony at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center Parade Field in Hattiesburg. Maj. Gen. Bobby M. Ginn Jr., the adjutant general of Mississippi, will host the time-honored ceremony.

“It’s been a dream of mine,” he said. “This is, without a doubt, the culminating event of my career. I’ve been in this brigade my entire career.”

He deployed with the 155th ABCT, known as “Dixie Thunder,” three times – once to Iraq and twice to Kuwait.

“To command this has been a lifelong dream of mine,” he said.

Cooksey grew up in Jackson, and married Allison, a Brookhaven native, just before his first tour of Iraq about 20 years ago. His first assignment back was in McComb so they moved to Lincoln County. They live in the Hog Chain community.

The Cookseys’ daughter, Sophia, is a freshman at Mississippi State, and their son, Jackson, will graduate next year from his homeschool classes and will likely attend Copiah-Lincoln Community College with a dual-enrollment with Mississippi State.

Cooksey, 50, holds a Bachelors of Science from Mississippi State University and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

He served as a reconnaissance Marine with the Second Reconnaissance Battalion of the Second Marine Division. Later, he attended Officers Candidate School at the 11th Infantry Regiment in Georgia, commissioning in the Infantry branch. After

completing initial Infantry training, he was assigned to the 155th ABCT. He has graduated several military courses including U.S. Navy Scuba School and the French Foreign Legion Jungle Commando Course and has completed several combat and operational deployments to Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Haiti and multiple other countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.

His awards include the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary medals, the Combat Infantryman’s badge, the Ranger tab, and the Parachutist badge.

The 155th ABCT, which is headquartered in Tupelo, is comprised of approximately 3,500 soldiers. The unit’s infantry battalion traces its lineage back to 1798 when the 1st Mississippi Regiment was raised. Today, the 1st Battalion, 155th Infantry Regiment carries on this legacy and is the seventh-oldest Infantry regiment in the United States.

Along with the 1-155th Infantry Regiment, the armored brigade combat team contains a brigade support, fires, special troops and two combined arms battalions of armor and infantry. The unit also possesses an armored reconnaissance squadron as well.