Col. Robert L. Le’iato returned to Fort Jackson to become the 43rd commandant of the Finance and Comptroller School, and chief of the Finance Corps.
Le’iato assumed his new responsibilities when he received the colors from Col. Jason T. Edwards, Soldier Support Institute commander, during a ceremony held in the SSI auditorium, July 30.
He was at Fort Jackson not only going through the Finance School, as it was called in 2003, but later served there as the Army Financial Management School’s chief of proponency.
“If you take a look at Rob’s bio, what you’ll see is an extremely well-balanced and amazing career,” Edwards said after passing the colors to Le’iato during the ceremony.
The history and legacy of a military unit is represented under the colors it serves. Historically, the unit colors would be where the commander would be on the battlefield.
After receiving the colors to represent his taking command of the unit, Le’iato was presented with the regimental medallion #43 by Lt. Gen. Paul A. Chamberlain, military deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller.
Chamberlain was the SSI commander when Le’iato was the proponency chief.
Edwards said Le’iato’s experience “perfectly prepared” him for duties as the 43rd commandant.
He took not only the tough duty assignments, but he performed exceptionally well and has been balanced geographically with tours on the mainland and “critical division locations” like Fort Carson, Colorado, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, and Fort Bliss, Texas.
Le’iato calls American Samoa home and graduated from the University of Hawaii where he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Military Intelligence branch.
“These are incredible experiences that are overlaid with your level-headed disposition that are going to make you the perfect fit for the family here at the Soldier Support Institute,” Edwards said.
Army senior leaders in the Finance and Comptroller career field are showing “great trust and confidence in me for taking this job,” Le’iato said. “It is a great honor to be the commandant of the Finance and Comptroller School.”
He also thanked his predecessor Col. Michelle Williams, who departed the unit earlier this year.
The Finance Corps has its origins in 1775 when the Second Continental Congress introduced a resolution appointing a Paymaster General of the Army.
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