New commander takes reins at USAG Vicenza

By USAG Vicenza Public AffairsAugust 13, 2008

New commander takes reins at USAG Vicenza
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

VICENZA, Italy - Col. Erik Daiga took command of U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza in a ceremony on Caserma Ederle Aug. 12.

Daiga joined the Army Installation Management team in 2003. He comes to Vicenza from Washington, D.C., where he served as a strategic plans officer for the assistant chief of staff, Installation Management Command.

The outgoing commander, Col. Virgil Williams, arrived in Vicenza in August 2005 and departs for Washington, D.C., this week for his new assignment at the Pentagon as chief, Program Integration Division, Resource Integration, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, Installation Management.

"A natural coalition and consensus builder, Col. Williams quickly earned the trust and confidence of the (Southern European Task Force), the (173rd ABCT) brigade, Italian army leaders, Carabinieri, provincial and municipal leaders, supporting commands and the many agencies that combine to support Soldiers and families here in northern Italy," said IMCOM-Europe director Diane Devens in her remarks during the ceremony. As the reviewing officer, Devens passed the garrison guidon from the outgoing commander to the incoming commander.

Devens praised Williams for providing "a backbone of support for the family and for the warfighter - by standing up the infrastructure to support a 36-room Warrior in Transition Unit and Soldier and Family Assistance Center in record time; by fully implementing the Army Family Covenant to improve programs and services to the community; and by working to help the 173rd (ABCT) deploy almost 2,000 Soldiers and more than four hundred tons of equipment" to Afghanistan efficiently and safely.

Daiga enlisted in the Army in 1984 from Palmyra, Penn., and served in the 82nd Airborne Division before being selected for Officer Candidate School. His overseas tours include assignments in Korea, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait. As a native Latvian speaker, he also served as a U.S. military liaison officer to the Republic of Latvia.