REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala.--A former Expeditionary Contracting Command chief of staff has returned to the command to be its leader.Brig. Gen. Paul Pardew assumed command from Brig. Gen. Michael Hoskin in a ceremony here on a breezy October morning.During his comments, Pardew said that is the third time he has taken command from Hoskin. He thanked the Hoskin family for their friendship and help in moving to Redstone Arsenal.He concluded his comments saying, "You can expect nothing more than my complete passion and dedication to our nation, the Army, our mission and our people."Pardew has a long history with ECC and the Army Contracting Command, ECC's higher headquarters. He has had multiple assignments in Army contracting including a tour as the ECC chief of staff from June 2010 to June 2011. He was the first commander of the 414th Contracting Support Brigade. He returns to ECC after serving as the director, Forward Operational Contract Support Integration Cell, U.S. Central Command, Qatar."Paul….I've read that one of your favorite sayings is that 'pressure makes diamonds' - I'm confident you will have the opportunity to make a few more as you lead and develop America's only full-time, deployable contingency contracting capability. It is great to have you and Kelly back with the ACC family," said Maj. Gen. James Simpson, ACC commanding general.Earlier in his remarks, Simpson thanked Hoskin for his service and initiatives to improve ECC. He discussed ECC's support in the fight against Ebola in western Africa, the support for Army and joint forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hoskin's leadership as the Army, through ECC, became the lead service for contracting in Afghanistan and Hoskin's initiatives to improve training for the acquisition community's enlisted personnel."I am confident that you have prepared your command well and that ECC will continue to meet the demands of our warfighters now and into the future," Simpson concluded. "Mike and Debby (Hoskin's wife), I offer my heartfelt appreciation for what you have done in leading ECC, growing our Soldiers, and supporting our community."Hoskin became the ECC commander in August 2014. Under his leadership, the command executed more than 68,000 contract actions valued at nearly $4 billion. ECC deployed 600 contingency contracting officers to operations in more than 60 countries. ECC contracting officers were on the first aircraft deployed to West Africa to support Operation United Assistance, the U.S. military mission to help combat the Ebola virus.Hoskin recounted ECC's achievements during his tenure as the commanding general. He listed the deployments of contracting brigades, battalions and teams, the new missions ECC assumed, and the daily support ECC provided to Army and joint organizations around the world."I am most proud of us maturing our workforce," said Hoskin. He continued by listing the increased education levels of the military and civilian contracting officers and the increasing complexity of ECC contracting actions as examples of ECC maturing."Our job is to build readiness for our Army and our joint partners. Changing command is never easy. But in this case, my family and I are very excited because the next ECC command team is Brigadier General Paul and Kelly Pardew," said Hoskin. "He is by far the best choice to command ECC. I will leave ECC today knowing that the unit is in very capable and caring hands."Hoskin's next assignment is with Department of the Army headquarters where he will be the director of Contracting under the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Procurement).