NATICK - When Brig. Gen. Vincent Malone II was pondering where to go to college, his father encouraged him to go to West Point.

Malone wasn't interested. His father then said he probably couldn't get in anyway, words that prompted Malone to apply to and ultimately graduate from the U.S. Military Academy.

Malone is now almost three decades into a career in the Army that has taken him to Alaska, Afghanistan, the Pentagon and, now, his newest assignment leading the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center, NSSC.

He loves the camaraderie and sense of unity in the Army.

"To me, there's nothing better than that," Malone said in an interview Friday before the change of command ceremony at the Natick base.

NSSC, which develops and advances technologies for the military's food, uniforms and other needs, bid farewell to Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts and welcomed Malone as the new senior commander at Natick and the deputy commanding general of the Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command. Friday's ceremony included music, speeches and the passing of the flag.

Potts, who is going to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, reflected on a year in Natick that included continued research and development on technology to assist soldiers as well as progress securing funding for upcoming construction projects, such as new housing.

"Vince, I'm passing the baton to you," he said. "You are set to make this … a greater facility than it already is."

Malone comes to Natick with varied experience, including time working on Army acquisitions. And, he was a platoon leader and company executive officer in the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment at Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Malone, in brief remarks to those gathered in the base's Hunter Auditorium, praised the workforce's strength and resiliency to even have the ceremony the day after a major snowstorm left more than a foot of snow across much of the region.

Army leadership values the research done in Natick as it looks to provide service members with what they need when they need it and at a cost the country can afford, he said.

"We have to do all that we can to make those efforts a success."

The Army is working on modernizing itself, and its science and technology workers can help point the Army in the correct direction, Malone said in the interview.

He hopes to bring the base's various organizations from different military branches closer together around their efforts to help service members.

Malone, who grew up in Texas, looks forward to exploring Boston and the region's parks with his family, which includes wife, Carol, and daughter Brooke, a student at Auburn University in Alabama.

He is eager to start.

"I just can't wait to begin to work with you more," he told base workers and soldiers.

Brian Benson can be reached at 508-626-3964 or bbenson@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @bbensonmwdn.