Fort Riley ? Soldiers and officers training to be advisers in Afghanistan and Iraq got a new resource Tuesday when Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin took command of the 1st Infantry Division.

Durbin is fresh from 19 months in Afghanistan, where he was head of the Combined Security Transition Command, helping Afghans develop their forces. Progress is evident, he said, praising the Afghan army for its development and fighting ability.

He said he hoped to make the training at Fort Riley more realistic by letting soldiers know what is happening in Afghanistan now. “Maybe I can give some personal insights into what they are stepping into,” he said in an interview after taking command.

Durbin assumed command of the division from Maj. Gen. Carter Ham, who has been nominated for a third star and rank of lieutenant general. He will be director of operations for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Ham took command of the division on Aug. 1, 2006.

Since then, he has overseen the return of the division to Kansas, including massive construction to house additional soldiers and their families and new training facilities. When the move is complete in 2011, the post will be home to nearly 19,000 soldiers.

“I leave, frankly, with a great sense of satisfaction for all that the soldiers and families of Fort Riley have accomplished,” Ham said, adding that he would miss the bond between the Kansas communities and the Army that has developed over the past 150 years.

Last summer, Fort Riley assumed the mission of training advisers heading to Afghanistan and Iraq to assist those countries’ security forces. Located at Camp Funston, the program gives senior officers and enlisted soldiers 60 days of training in language, cultural awareness and combat skills. More than 3,700 advisers groomed at Fort Riley are deployed, and nearly 700 are in training.