2011 Legacy of Leadership Award Honorees

Col. Elvia Denise Gaines-Edmond,

U.S. Army                          

Col.  Elvia Denise Gaines-Edmond has served in the U.S. Army for more than 25 years in a myriad of assignments.  Most recently, in 2009, she deployed to Baghdad, Iraq and served as the Multi-National Corps- Iraq, Iraqi Assistance Group (IAG), Joint Personnel Director (JI).   The IAG headquarters element controlled all the military transition teams that deployed to Iraq to train and mentor the Iraqi military in security force assistance.  As the IAG J1, Col. Gaines-Edmond  was responsible for all facets of human resources for over 180 Transition Teams (2500+ personnel) dispersed throughout Iraq during combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and contributed to the development of draw down plans to merge her command into the United States Forces Iraq headquarters.  She currently serves as the United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) G-1/AG Branch Chief, Silver Scimitar Training Branch.  As the Chief, Silver Scimitar, Col. Gaines-Edmond spearheads the only human resources-centered collective training exercise in the US Army.  She is a distinguished military graduate of North Carolina A&T State University with a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing and a master of business administration from the University of New Orleans.