Two years ago the Army’s 25th Infantry Division was poised to deploy to the Korean Peninsula as war preparations ramped up.

Now the 12,000 soldiers of the “Tropic Lightning” division are focusing on “great power” competition with China and the ability to move rapidly through island nations in the region to, among other missions, fire missiles and artillery at enemy ships and aircraft.

On Tuesday, greater special operations expertise was added to the portfolio with the assumption of command by Maj. Gen. James “Jamie” Jarrard, who most recently served as director of operations for U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa, Fla.

Change is coming quickly to the Pacific, and it will be Jarrard’s job to keep pace with it.

“I have no doubt that your experiences will serve you as you command a unit serving in one of the most complex areas in the world,” Lt. Gen. Gary Volesky, commander of I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., said in remarks at the command change.

More than 1,400 soldiers stood at attention on Weyand Field at Schofield Barracks as Jarrard, Volesky and departing 25th commander Maj. Gen. Ron Clark reviewed the troops from a roving Humvee.

Jarrard was commander of a special operations joint task force for Operation Inherent Resolve in Syria and Iraq in 2017-18 and said after the command change that his troops were able to assist in dismantling the physical caliphate that ISIS had attempted to create.

“By the time I left it was very, very small — just a small piece in northeast Syria,” he said. “And so for all of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that were under my command (and with) all of the coalition partners that assisted us throughout that endeavor, what a great accomplishment to finally defeat that physical caliphate.”

Speaking at an Association of the U.S. Army conference in October, Maj. Gen. John “Pete” Johnson, acting commander of U.S. Army Pacific, was unambiguous about the land force’s focus in this region.

“In the Indo-Pacific it is all about China. That is the threat,” Johnson said. China is creating the environment that the Army is basing its strategy on, he said. “China is very clearly seeking to dominate the region.”

“Essentially, the situation we have now is we cannot assure ourselves to have superiority in any single domain,” including air, sea, land, space and cyber, Johnson cautioned.

The Army is retooling how it fights toward what it calls multidomain operations fusing all domains and services to a degree never seen before and with key assistance from allies and partner nations — all of which the Army believes could help deter conflict.

Jarrard said the 25th Division “has a long and distinguished history” of developing relationships throughout the Pacific, “so it is my intention to continue to maintain those that are deep and well solidified and improve on those that aren’t.”

Volesky lauded Clark, the departing 25th commander, for taking on the Hawaii force when “we thought we were only months away from deploying our forces to the Korean Peninsula,” and creating the most ready division in the Army.

Clark assumed command on Jan. 4, 2018. His next assignment is as chief of staff at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith.