Carrington sworn in as Post Commander for American Legion Post 353
Barry Carrington led the Post 353 meeting this past week as part of the transition into the Post Commander role. (Photo by Jacob Sturm)
By Jacob Sturm
news@mustangpaper.com
American Legion Post 353 swore in a plethora of new members to specific roles within the
organization as part of its Aug. 10 meeting inside of Mustang’s Town Center.
One of those sworn into a new role within the Legion Post 353 was Barry Carrington, who
stepped into the role of Post Commander following in the footsteps of former post commander
Conley Wicker.
Carrington, who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Cold War in his 30-year career with the
military, before he took a job for a few years in Saudi Arabia before returning to the United
States and volunteering with the American Legion in 2014.
“I’m still learning about how the position works,” Carrington said. “I’m just trying to figure out
what I can (do in the role)… I’m going to figure out where I can put some energy.”
Carrington joined the American Legion Post 353 in 2015, where he would attend the meetings
and stay involved with the group. Then everything slowed down during the COVID pandemic,
leading to an opportunity for Carrington to step into a role beyond a normal member’s duties.
That came in the form of the Sergeant of Arms role, where Carrington has served the Legion
since the pandemic. Part of those roles is to deliver the American Legion’s Prisoners of War
Missing In Action (POW MIA) seat cover when the Legion meet and are in session.
He also serves on the Legion Honor Guard, which can be seen at multiple Legion events each
year.
Carrington immediately led the meeting following his swearing in ceremony. To be in the
position he was swearing into Thursday, Carrington had to be a member of Post 353, attend the
executive board meetings, and serve as an officer for one other position.
“It’s definitely a little different because everyone is looking at you for guidance or vision or
what we are going to do next and what’s on the horizon,” Carrington said. “Are we planning for
it? How we’re planning for it? The biggest piece is the finance piece because we have
scholarships coming up next year. We have a few fundraisers coming up… Those are the things
I’m kind of thinking (about) how we’re going to do that.”
He also mentioned membership, and emphasized the work to retain the members currently in
Post 353 while looking to add members.
Wicker, along with the other board members, encouraged Carrington to pursue the position
and told him they would help him along the way. One of those was Adjutant Don Kuntze, who
had been vocally in support of Carrington in conversations between the two of them.
“He kept telling me over and over, ‘we’ve got big things for you. We’ve got big plans for you,’”
Carrington said. “… They kept hinting about it (over the last two years). So, I figured I’d give it a
shot.”
He also said it’s extremely helpful to him for the Legion Post 353 to have the knowledge and
experience with the involved members at both the local and state levels.
Carrington is also excited to see the reports that come from the American Legion as a whole,
and see how it impacts individual posts like Post 353.
“I kind of look forward to seeing what that is so I can get a bigger picture of how the American
Legion functions,” Carrington said. “There’s so many different things that go on. A lot of
different posts do things differently. I pick up ideas from them as well, too… I’m looking forward
to sharing that and seeing some of that information and how it works.”
American Legion Post 353 holds their meetings on the second Thursday of each month.
Meetings start at 7 p.m. in the 55+ Active Adult Center inside of Town Center.
