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U.S. Army Africa ceremony welcomes deputy commanders

By Sgt. Maj. Kimberly Williams, U.S. Army Africa Public Affairs

VICENZA, Italy – U.S. Army Africa welcomed two new deputy commanding generals to its team during a Jan. 21 ceremony in front of the headquarters building at Caserma Ederle.

Brig. Gen. David S. Elmo, U.S. Army Reserve, and Brig. Gen. Isaac G. Osborne Jr., U.S. Army National Guard, will serve as deputy commanders for U.S. Army Africa. Both generals will report to U.S. Army Africa for an average of 40-70 active duty days a year, serving mostly on missions in Africa or the United States.

Adding new positions of deputy commanding generals was a top priority for the command, said Col. Marcus De Oliveira, U.S. Army Africa chief of staff. The ceremony formally welcomed the generals to the community, he said.

“This provides us a formal relationship back to the Army Reserve and National Guard and expands our reach in Africa,” De Oliveira said. “Because U.S. Army Africa is relatively small in numbers, we are very much dependent on Reserve and National Guard support of individuals and units to perform missions in Africa.”

Osborne works for the Tennessee Army National Guard in Nashville, Tenn., as the assistant adjutant general.

He is responsible for the supervision and training of more than 10,600 Soldiers.

“It is exciting to be a part of improving partner capacity in the African nations, which will affect the future peace for so many people,” Osborne said.

In his civilian career, Elmo is a U.S. diplomat, recently assigned as the management officer of the U.S. Consulate in Milan, Italy.

For Elmo, this assignment offers a chance to return to Vicenza, where he previously served as the commanding officer for the Southern European Task Force (SETAF) Augmentation Unit for two and a half years back in 2001.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to return to Italy and the Vicenza military community,” Elmo said. Both Elmo and Osborne plan to put their U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard ties into good use at U.S. Army Africa.

“Africa has so many outstanding opportunities to integrate the National Guard and Reserve into training activities,” said Osborne. “The Reserve Components possess the military skills and often the civilian specialties to enhance the capacity of African nations to perform peace support and stability operations on the continent.” 

SETAF assumed a new role as U.S. Army Africa in December 2008. In October 2009, the Department of the Army designated U.S. Army Africa as the Army Service Component Command to U.S. Africa Command. This will eventually bring the headquarters to an equal footing with the Army’s other ASCCs for issues like manning and funding. Growing U.S. Army Africa into a fully capable ASCC will take several years, De Oliveira said.

It will be a slow process, as the command adds both military and civilian positions.

“That’s why deputy commanding generals affiliated with the Army Reserve and National Guard are so important,” he said.

Cleared for public release.

CUTLINE: Brig. Gen. David Elmo speaks during a Jan. 21 ceremony at U.S. Army Africa headquarters.

Photos by Rick Scavetta, U.S. Army Africa

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

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