Feb. 26, 2007 — Col. Timothy L. Lake will serve as adjutant general of the V.I. National Guard and Col. Renaldo Rivera will become state director of the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, Gov. John P. deJongh Jr. announced Monday.
The governor made the announcement from Washington, D.C., where he is attending the Winter Meeting of the National Governor's Association, according to a news release from the governor's office.
A 1981 graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School, Lake has a distinguished military career that spans 27 years, including his current role as commander-in-chief of the V.I. National Guard (VING). Lake was commissioned in the Regular Army Signal Corps from the ROTC at North Carolina A&T State University as a distinguished military graduate in 1985 with a bachelor of science degree in industrial technology, manufacturing.
Lake also has a master's degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. During his career, Lake has served in the V.I. National Guard and held several positions, including battalion adjutant, territorial-security officer, plans operations and military-support officer and battalion operations and intelligence officer.
Among his military achievements, Lake was assigned to the White House Communications Agency and served as chief, networks division, Washington-Area systems directorate, then as deputy chief of operations. In April 2001, and for a two-year-period, Lake commanded the White House Communication Agency Special Missions Command at Camp David. In addition, he attained the title of Presidential communications officer, a post that enables him to lead any mission, anywhere, in support of the president.
Lake attended Army War College and later served at the Army Readiness Center as branch chief, policy, readiness and analysis. In April 2005, he transferred to the Virgin Islands and served as commander of the joint task force and special assistant to the adjutant general before being reassigned in July 2006 to the U.S. Pentagon to serve as branch chief, force assessment, forces division on the Defense Department Joint Staff.
His military education includes: airborne school, signal officer basic and advanced course, communications and electronic maintenance management course, the tactical signal staff officer course, combined arms staff service school, command general staff officer course and senior service school.
"I am counting on Col. Lake to build on the current foundation of what we have at the V.I. National Guard and, through his leadership, tap into the tremendous talent base," deJongh said Monday. "The men and women not only serve our local community, but over the years,we have come to learn and appreciate their efforts and responsibilities to our nation. It is now up to Col. Lake to ensure they are prepared."
Lake will also have responsibility for the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) and the Office of Homeland Security, where coordination with the VING is extremely important in times of emergency and disaster preparedness and execution.
His decorations include the presidential service badge, the joint service badge, Army staff badge, joint meritorious unit award, the bronze star metal, army commendation metal, defense meritorious service metal, meritorious service metal, Army commendation metal, Army achievement medal, Army Reserve component medal, national defense service medal, Southwest Asia service medal, humanitarian service medal, Army service ribbon, overseas service ribbon, Kuwait liberation medal (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Kuwait liberation medal and the parachute badge.
Lake said his appointment signals a generational change that will be reflected throughout the V.I. National Guard's leadership.
"There will in fact be a 'changing of the Guard' with an organization made up of officers and non-commissioned officers prepared through education, training, and experience to assume new roles and responsibilities," he said.
Lake's leadership will usher in a new chapter for the VING. Additionally, Lake is expected to leverage his national and local homeland security and emergency-management experience to ensure preparation of the administration's Emergency Management Council and the territory overall for the 2007 hurricane season and other potential concerns.
Married to the former Robin Williams, Lake is father to four children: Timothy II, Phillip and twins Tiffany and Tivon.
As the adjutant general of the Virgin Islands, Lake, a colonel in the U.S. Army, will hold the rank of brigadier general.
DeJongh has also selected a person with vast military and planning experience to lead VITEMA in Col. Renaldo Rivera. The state director-designate is no stranger to VITEMA, having held the position of chief planner of the agency in 2002. Retired from the V.I. National Guard, Rivera held a number of positions during his more than 20-year-career.
It was during his career that Rivera developed and provided technical advice on military strategies, tactical and operations control to both military and civilian personnel. He worked his way through the ranks to attain the positions of deputy chief of staff for logistics and deputy chief of staff for operations within the VING framework. Rivera is the only officer in the V.I. National Guard's history to have held two successive battalion commands, during which he initiated many enhancement programs for officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel within the two commands.
"Col. Rivera brings to the directorship, a tremendous amount of experience, founded in the VI National Guard, his previous experiences at VITEMA and as a police officer," deJongh said Monday. "This is the first time that we have had a person with Rivera's qualifications to lead such an agency, thereby positioning him to take more of a leadership role in our emergency and disaster preparedness and execution. I am particularly comforted that Col. Rivera is joining at this time as we can adequately prepare ourselves for the upcoming hurricane season."
Prior to his years in the National Guard, Rivera served as a police officer on St. Thomas for a 10-year-period that began in 1971. His training is varied and includes anti-terrorism, incident management, homeland-security assessment and emergency preparedness. Rivera also worked four years with the V.I. Water and Power Authority, where he served as facility security officer, a position that required his coordinating the day-to-day efforts of contracted security companies tasked with securing all personnel, contractors, facilities, equipment and barged bulk-oil operations. The position also allowed Rivera to address all aspects of responding to and avoiding terrorism acts against any of the territory's two power-generating plants.
Rivera is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. In addition, he holds a bachelor of science degree in Applied Science from Youngstown State University. He is a 1968 graduate of Charlotte Amalie High School. Rivera is married to the former Diane Walcott, and he is the father of 11 children. Rivera has 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Stevelyn Parris, who has served as Acting State Director of VITEMA since January 1, will return to his position as the agency's deputy director for St. Thomas. Rivera's appointment does not require confirmation by the Legislature.
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