Colonel Darcy Saint-Amant relinquished command of the 21st Signal Brigade to Colonel Julia Donley at a change of command ceremony July 26 at the Fort Detrick auditorium on Fort Detrick, Maryland.
Presiding over the ceremony was Brig. Gen. Charles R. “Rob” Parker, Commanding General of the 7th Signal Command (Theater) and Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Command.
In his remarks, Brig. Gen. Parker commended Colonel Saint-Amant’s leadership, saying the 21st had made significant progress in advancing the mission and building enduring relationships with key mission partners in the National Capital Region, despite the challenges of COVID-19.
“She challenged Soldiers and civilians alike to meet her high expectations, and to strive for greatness. That was exceptionally difficult over the last two-plus years because of a little thing we know as a global pandemic. Darcy provided strong leadership during these rough waters, moving brigade functions from in-office to online without missing a beat, and ensuring continuity of national missions 24/7/365 when much of our country's population was locked down,” said Brig. Gen. Parker.
Colonel Saint-Amant said the pandemic elicited a need for pragmatism and perseverance in finding ways to protect the workforce in the midst of constantly changing conditions. She was most grateful for the people of the 21st in rising to the challenge and finding unique ways to continue executing the mission successfully.
“As we protected our shift worker bubbles, embraced max telework, and learned new ways to collaborate, we continued to evolve and even thrive, with units spread out across 9 different installations in the United States,” said Col. Saint-Amant. “All of these achievements, along with many others, and our daily missions, would not have been possible without the tremendous team of professional Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, and contractors in the unit, and the partnerships we have with Defense Information Systems Agency, the Joint Service Provider, JTF-NCR, Garrison command teams & support elements, the Joint Staff, Washington Headquarters Services, and the leadership at the US Army Medical Research & Development Command, 7th Signal Command and NETCOM.”
Colonel Saint-Amant’s next assignment will be as the executive officer to U.S. Army Lieutenant General John B. Morrison, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-6.
Colonel Donley comes to the 21st Signal Brigade from National Defense University and has served in a variety of assignments during her career including Battalion S-3 and executive officer, programing analyst, legislative liaison, J-6, military aide to the Vice President, and Battalion Commander in various locations including Kitzingen, Germany, Fort Gordon, Fort Detrick, the Pentagon, and the White House in addition to four combat tours in Turkey, Iraq, and Qatar.
She said she was grateful for the chance to come back to Fort Detrick and lead the 21st Signal Brigade.
“Brig. Gen. Parker, Maj. Gen. Chris Eubank [NETCOM commander], thanks for this once in a lifetime opportunity to come back to the 21st and be part of such an extraordinary team.”
Colonel Donley commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Georgetown University in 2000.
The 21st Signal Brigade's mission is to provide global nuclear and national command, control, and communications, national messaging services, enterprise C4IM services, gateway operations, and combat camera in support of national level agencies, the Department of Defense, and other mission partners to enable cyber superiority and mission command.
The 21st Signal Brigade conducts network operations for theater-based LandWarNet communication systems, networks, and enterprise services providing information services support to warfighters, intergovernmental, interagency, and civil authorities to enable full spectrum operations.
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