19th ESC HHC commander within his peers, on top of leadership

Photo By Sgt. Sung-jun Lim | Capt. James Acevedo, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command commander, gives a safety brief to soldiers at Kelly Field on Camp Walker Oct. 19. Acevedo, who has worked in multiple command positions during his first tour in Korea, was selected and took command of HHC, 19th ESC July 2011.  

CAMP HENRY, DAEGU GWANG'YEOGSI [TAEGU-KWANGYOKSHI], SOUTH KOREA

10.30.2012

Story by Cpl. Sung-jun Lim 

19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

CAMP HENRY, South Korea - Every Friday morning Capt. James Acevedo, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command commander, steps in front of his company and looks into a formation of soldiers with a high density of senior non-commissioned officers and field grade officers.

Acevedo, who has worked in multiple command positions during his first tour in Korea, was selected and took command of HHC, 19th ESC July 2011.

“When I applied for the position of company commander along with another six or seven officers, Col. Cotter [19th ESC deputy commander at that time] asked me a few questions about the command and what other different duty titles I held during my career,” Acevedo said. “I told him what my intentions are and that I was very interested in serving as a company commander who has a chance to lead soldiers.”

Commanding around 250 soldiers at a time as a company commander, he is a multifunctional officer who is responsible for the training, operations, and logistics of the company as well as the morale and welfare of the soldiers and their families.

“I have a lot of responsibilities, but at the same time, it is very rewarding when I can help soldiers and their families by satisfying their needs and make procedures or conditions for the better,” Acevedo said. “Once you leave the company command and become a staff officer, you don’t have the same opportunity to influence people in positive ways.”

Being a company commander of a HHC has its obstacles, especially when it is the largest forward-deployed multicomponent ESC in the U.S. Army.

“The most challenging thing for a company commander is to lead your peers and your seniors. But as long as you follow the Army procedures and regulations, and you do it with right purpose, they will follow my intent,” Acevedo said. “One more thing is that it is all about support you get. If you show that you care about the company and show them your leadership, they will follow.”

At any given point that someone could happen to come across an HHC formation, they could see Acevedo educating his troops, throwing punches and kicks as part of the taekwondo physical training days he implemented, or being part of his soldiers’ training like jumping out the humvee egress assistance trainer at Camp Carroll.

“He always tries to maintain close cooperation with the members of the HHC for any missions or thoughts on what he can do to improve this company.” said 1st Sgt. Yolanda Y. Brown, HHC first sergeant.

“He is a quiet professional of immense credibility, strong and agile who fearlessly leads from the front," said Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Fernandez, HHC safety non-commissioned officer. “He always leads from the front especially during the times when hardship was to be shared … road marches, field training exercises and leading the 'A' group in ability group runs every Monday.”

During his tenure as commander, Acevedo took his wartime mission of providing administrative and logistic support to the 19th ESC headquarters to new areas. He implemented the plan to deploy the company to Camp Carroll for Key Resolve 12, and Gimhae in Ulchi Freedom Guardian 12.

Acevedo, a husband and father of two kids, gave as much attention to families and esprit de corps by providing multiple opportunities for everyone in his unit to become familiar with the Korean culture. He included many events such as an Everland trip, Hawaii beach trip, demilitarized zone trip, Easter egg hunt and Halloween party.

“Acevedo supports all the family programs that are available through the Army community service and local agencies,” said Rosa I. Martinez, HHC Family Readiness Group support assistant. “He is fully involved in the FRG and strives to ensure that all the HHC, 19th ESC family members are well informed about things that are occurring in Area IV.”

Now at the end of his command and looking back, he feels proud of the accomplishments that he has achieved.

“I have definitely improved our capabilities of command and control on the move as a company level. Also, we improved the integrations from the families to the Korean culture,” Acevedo said.

• Date Taken: 10.30.2012
• Date Posted: 10.30.2012 04:03
• Story ID: 96960
• Location: CAMP HENRY, DAEGU GWANG'YEOGSI [TAEGU-KWANGYOKSHI], KR