Marine reserves command to change Friday
By John Andrew Prime
japrime@gannett.com

Command of the Bossier City-based Bravo Co., 1/23rd Marines, a reserve unit that gained battle luster in Iraq, will change Friday.

Maj. Matthew Leigeber will assume command from Maj. Ronald "Shayne" McGinty during a ceremony at 8 p.m. at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Swan Lake Road in Bossier City.


McGinty also will receive a Bronze Star medal for his leadership and actions at the battle of Hit in October 2004. The platoon he led engaged in combat with a force of as many as 200 terrorists over the course of several days, action that recently was detailed in Leatherneck magazine.

McGinty now is a pharmaceutical executive in the Shreveport-Bossier City area. Leigeber, also a recipient of the Bronze Star for his service as officer-in-charge for a regional detention facility in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005 and 2006, is on the Tyler, Texas, police force.

Of the 150-plus Marines who normally make up the company, only about 50 will be at the ceremony, McGinty said. The others are at Camp Lejuene, N.C., training to return to Iraq as part of the 3/23rd Marines, a brother unit based in the New Orleans area.

Ellie