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Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities
United States Africa Command

Mary Carlin Yates, a senior U.S. diplomat, is Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities (DCMA) of United States Africa Command. Among U.S. geographic commands, AFRICOM is unique in having two co-equal deputies -- a civilian deputy and a military deputy. The DCMA's military counterpart is the Deputy to the Commander for Military Operations (DCMO).

As U.S. Africa Command's DCMA, Ambassador Yates directs the command's plans and programs associated with health, humanitarian assistance and de-mining action, disaster response, security sector reform, and Peace Support Operations. She also directs Outreach, Strategic Communication and AFRICOM's partner-building functions, as well as assuring that policy development and implementation are consistent with U.S. Foreign Policy.

From September 2005 through September 2007, Ambassador Yates served as Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) to the United States European Command (EUCOM). European Command's Area of Responsibility encompasses 92 countries in Europe, Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East. In her capacity as POLAD, Ambassador Yates provided vital diplomatic and political policy advice and analysis to the commander and senior staff thus ensuring U.S. foreign policy was coordinated with the Commander's theater security policies and regional strategy objectives. As senior policy advisor, she provided critical "reach-back" between the Command and the Department of State, National Security Council, and the numerous U.S. embassies throughout this vast AOR. She was awarded the Department of Defense's second highest civilian honor, the Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award, for this outstanding service.

Ambassador Yates is a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister Counselor, who began her diplomatic career in 1980. She served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana from 2002 until 2005 and was recognized with Presidential Performance Award for Excellence in 2004. While Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi from 1999 until 2002, she worked extensively to bring peace and stability through the Burundian Peace Process in Arusha, led by former South African President Nelson Mandela. Her service in Kinshasa, Zaire (Congo) as Political Officer and then Public Affairs Counselor from 1991-95 occurred during the genocide in neighboring Rwanda. She earned both the department's Superior Honor Award for "her diplomatic efforts in Goma, Zaire under extreme hardship conditions" and the prestigious USIA Lois Roth Award for Excellence in Information and Cultural Diplomacy for promoting political and democratic institutions in Zaire (Congo).

Mary Yates also served in U.S. Embassy, Paris from 1995-99 first as Press Attaché for Ambassador Pamela Harriman and then as Senior Cultural Attaché. Her other assignments included Office Director in the Bureau of Public Affairs of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State; Assistant Information Officer and Spokesperson for the U.S./Philippine Military Bases Talks in Manila, and as Branch Public Affairs Officer in Kwangju, Korea. She has earned a Sustained Superior Honor Award, another Superior Honor Award, and two Meritorious Honor Awards.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Ambassador Yates earned her BA in English from Oregon State University and a Masters in Comparative East-West Humanities from New York University (NYU), where she advanced to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Asian Studies. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of English from her alma mater Oregon State University in June 2007, where she delivered the commencement address. Her languages are French and Korean.

She is married to a retired Foreign Service Officer, John M. Yates, who was appointed in May 2007 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as the U.S. Special Envoy to Somalia after ambassadorships in the Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea; Republic of Benin, and Republic of the Cape Verde. She is the step-mother of five children.