RICHMOND. Va. — National Guard Bureau announced new assignments for Brig. Gen. Michelle M. Rose and Brig. Gen. William L. Zana Feb. 14, 2019. Rose will serve as the J4 director of logistics and engineering at Headquarters North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command in a full-time status starting in July, and Zana will become the J5 deputy director for Africa starting in June. Rose currently serves as the National Guard Bureau J4 director of logistics in a traditional Guard status and Zana is the deputy commander for Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa in a full-time status.
“Brig. Gen. Rose and Brig. Gen. Zana continue to well represent the Virginia National Guard in senior leadership positions at the national level,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia. “They serve as outstanding examples to both our full-time and traditional Guard force about the opportunities available for our top performers who consistently exceed the standard in the toughest assignments. We wish them both the best in their new roles.”
Rose was commissioned in 1989 as a Regular Army second lieutenant through the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering. She earned a Master of Business Administration – Management in 1997 from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, and graduated in 2014 form the U.S. Army War College Distance Education Program with a Master of Strategic Studies.
After commissioning, she served on active duty and completed two combat tours. She served as a transportation platoon leader in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and later as company executive officer in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia while assigned to the 24th Transportation Battalion, 7th Group, based Fort Eustis, Virginia.
She joined the Virginia Army National Guard in 1994 and has held multiple logistical and command assignments through her Guard career. She served as the division transportation officer of the 29th Infantry Division and later in a joint assignment as senior transportation officer with Joint Task Force Civil Support, U.S. Joint Forces Command, at Fort Monroe, Virginia.
In 2008, Rose commanded the 529th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, which included a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom at Shindand, Afghanistan, as the first U.S. logistics unit in Regional Command West. She was the first female officer in the Virginia National Guard to command a battalion in a combat zone. After battalion command, she served on the Virginia National Guard joint staff as the state resource manager before taking command of the Virginia Beach-based 329th Regional Support Group from May 2012 to October 2015.
Zana earned his commission through Officer Candidate School at the Virginia Military Academy in 1993 and was the class honor graduate. He held multiple platoon leader assignments in 1st Battalion, 170th Infantry Regiment prior to commanding Company B, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment and later serving as the battalion operations officer during the unit’s federal mobilization to Kuwait and Iraq.
He commanded 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, later served as the executive officer for the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team during their federal mobilization to Afghanistan and also served as the deputy operations officer for the 29th Infantry Division. He also deployed to Afghanistan to serve as senior National Guard advisor and was the Personnel Mobilization and Readiness Branch Chief for Combined Joint Task Force – 76.
As an enlisted Soldier he served in the 3rd U.S. Infantry, The Old Guard, and was an operations sergeant and a Sentinel and Relief Commander at The Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.
Zana began serving Jan. 1, 2018, as the deputy commanding general of Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in a full-time duty status after commanding the 91st Cyber Brigade. During his time in command, the oversaw the activation of the 91st as the first cyber brigade in the National Guard.