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March 31, 2007
Lake nomination withdrawn; Rivera nominated as VING Adjutant General Gov. John P. deJongh has written to Senate President Usie Richards to advise him of Colonel Timothy Lake’s request that his name be withdrawn from consideration as the next Adjutant General of the Virgin Islands National Guard. The Commander in Chief of the V.I. National Guard, deJongh nominated Colonel Renaldo Rivera to fill the top position at the V.I. National Guard. Rivera had been originally selected as State Director of VITEMA, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency. The basis for the withdrawal is that after having accepted the position, Lake found the compensation inadequate. The Adjutant General of the V.I. National Guard earns $97,000 a year, the same salary as the highest paid commissioner in the Executive Branch. Lake is presently assigned to the Pentagon. Rivera comes to the position of Adjutant General with considerable military experience. Retired from the V.I. National Guard, Rivera held a number of positions during his more than 20-year-career. It was during that 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. "Colonel Rivera brings to the Adjutant General’s post, a tremendous amount of experience, founded in the VI National Guard coupled by his previous experiences at VITEMA and at the V.I. Police Department," deJongh said. 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 was also employed for a four-year-period with the Water and Power Authority where he served as Facility Security Officer, a position which required his coordinating the day-to-day efforts of contracted security companies which were 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 the Charlotte Amalie High School. Colonel Rivera is married to the former Diane Walcott and he is the father of eleven children. Rivera has ten grand children and a great grandchild. With Rivera’s appointment as Adjutant General, VITEMA Deputy Director on St. Thomas Stevelyn A. Parris will now serve as Acting State Director. |
