Yongsan welcomes new garrison commander

By Sgt. Kevin Frazier (IMCOM)August 2, 2012

Yongsan welcomes new garrison commander
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Col. Michael E. Masley, left, incoming garrison commander for U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, receives the garrison colors from Debra D. Zedalis, region director for Installation Management Command Pacific Region, during a change of command ceremony on U... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Yongsan welcomes new garrison commander
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Yongsan welcomes new garrison commander
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YONGSAN GARRISON, Republic of Korea -- The time has come to wish farewell to an outstanding leader and embrace another as the Community gave honor and showed appreciation during a change of command ceremony here, August 2.

Col. William P. Huber, outgoing garrison commander for U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, handed over command and its colors to Col. Michael E. Masley.

Debra D. Zedalis, region director for Installation Management Command Pacific Region, took a moment to reflect on the impact that Huber made while in command of USAG Yongsan. Among the many initiatives Huber led, He helped bring change to Honor's Café, Trent Warrior Resiliency Fitness Center and Collier Community Fitness Center.

"Bill, over the past 24 months your outreach has helped a lot of Soldiers, Civilians and Families adapt to outstanding and productive changes in USAG Yongsan," Zedalis said.

Over the course of Huber's command, he helped to establish sponsorship programs for spouses to better their awareness of Korean culture. He also helped develop a pilot part-day toddler program to assist families with child care so they could have time to take care of personal business.

In addition, Huber's leadership helped USAG Yongsan to receive the 2012 Army Communities of Excellence Bronze award by the Army Chief of Staff. The ACOE award recognized Yongan's performance of excellence in installation management and its direct effort to improve and sustain the quality of support to Servicemembers, Families, Civilians and host nation employees.

"Throughout my military career, I have had the privilege to serve with many talented, dedicated, and outstanding people in many far away and interesting places," Huber said. "But for me, Garrison Yongsan, Garrison Red Cloud, Eighth Army, U.S. Forces Korea and Korea have always been the place I have enjoyed the most during my time of service."

Huber gave great appreciation to the community, staff, and command team that work vigorously to make this mission successful.

"It has been a great honor and remarkable experience for the past 24 months to command USAG Yongsan," Huber said. "I want to thank Gen. Thurman, Lt. Gen. Johnson, Brig. Gen. Conboy, and Ms. Zedalis for allowing me to serve; and also for coaching, mentoring, and helping me to develop as a better leader."

Huber departs Korea to become the Deputy Joint Base Commander and Vice Commander of the 673rd Air Base Wing at Joint Base Elmedorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Masley recently served as the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and Combined Security Transition Command- Afghanistan Director CJ1. He is no stranger to Korea as he was the brigade operations officer and officer account manager for 8th Personnel Command at Yongsan.

"I am extremely honored and grateful to arriving to such a great team here on Yongsan," Masley said. "I look forward to making a difference for our Servicemembers, Families and Civilians by continuing to make USAG Yongsan the 'Community of Choice.' I also look forward to partnering with our Korean Good Neighbors by building upon the greatest and strongest alliance in the world: The ROK-U.S. alliance."

Related Links:

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USAG Yongsan on Flickr

USAG Yongsan on YouTube

U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan Homepage