AMC Champion Of Army's Civilian Force

By Kari Hawkins, USAG RedstoneJune 30, 2010

THANKING WORK FORCE
Army Materiel Command commander Gen. Ann Dunwoody expresses her appreciation to AMC's civilian work force during AMC's first Worldwide Town Hall meeting at Bob Jones Auditorium. Besides a packed auditorium, the general also spoke to employees at 70 d... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Of the 250,000 civilians working for today's Army, more than 67,000 represent the Army Materiel Command, making AMC the Army's largest civilian organization.

And that's why its commander - Gen. Ann Dunwoody - wants to make AMC "the champion" for civilian employees working for the Army.

"If we're not your voice, who is'" Dunwoody asked during the first-ever Worldwide Town Hall meeting telecast Friday from Bob Jones Auditorium. The four-star general was at Redstone Arsenal to tour the new AMC headquarters building, and meet with employees and community leaders.

The Town Hall was the largest video teleconferencing event ever coordinated by AMC.

"Good morning, good afternoon, good evening to wherever you are in this global community," Dunwoody said, addressing a packed auditorium as well as employees at 70 different sites around the world receiving the broadcast.

"I want to thank you and tell you how proud I am of you ... You represent such a talented, universal team ... This is a breathtaking organization of 67,000 people in 49 states and 127 countries. We are an Army at war. You can either wring your hands or roll up your sleeves. This organization is filled with people who roll up their sleeves and get after it."

Dunwoody described AMC employees as talented, diverse, committed and dedicated.

Besides the 67,000 civilian employees, AMC also employs about 47,000 contractors. About 3 percent of its work force is military, with the organization including 77 battalions and brigade commands.

AMC has an annual budget of $57 billion with about $95 billion in contracts to support 1.34 million pieces of equipment and a workload that is three times the workload of the Vietnam conflict.

With nine years of war behind it and more years ahead, AMC is being challenged to be more efficient and more effective as budgets tighten and decline.

"If we don't, then we will lose force structure or risk modernization," Dunwoody said. "At the end of the day, we're trying to do things better for our deployed men and women. It will never become routine. It will never become business as usual because we have Soldiers who are still in harm's way, who are still making sacrifices."

Yet, despite budget concerns, Dunwoody is amazed at the resiliency of AMC and its employees. Even during wartime, the organization has also been able to manage support during natural disasters such as in Haiti and Chile. It has also expanded its organization to include the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Contracting Command, Sustainment Command and AMC Forward Southwest Asia-Kuwait, provided support for the drawdown of troops in Iraq and the transfer of equipment to Afghanistan; and managed transformation efforts related to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations.

The changes in AMC are "all about connecting the foxhole to the institution," Dunwoody said. "It's about bringing the industrial base to the Soldier in the foxhole."

AMC is the largest organization within the Army to be affected by BRAC. It will involve the movement of more than 11,000 employees, or one in every six employees in the AMC work force.

Yet, even with success, the Army as a whole is out of balance with the demand for deployments, equipment and capabilities exceeding the supply. The Army is relying on the enterprise approach - which is the establishment of cohesive organizations whose structure, governance systems and culture support a common purpose - to regain its balance.

"AMC is a microcosm of the enterprise approach," Dunwoody said. "We want to use the enterprise approach at the highest level. When we move to Huntsville, we will leverage the opportunity to transform our headquarters to be able to manage this enterprise ... Soon the center of gravity for AMC will be right here."

To correct the Army imbalance, Dunwoody said it must work to reduce the number of deployments and extend the life of its equipment. While AMC extends the life of equipment through reset, the Army is working to protect Soldiers and their family time.

"I worry about the human dimension of the Army over the equipment dimension every day," she said.

That worry extends to AMC's civilian work force, which experienced eight suicides last year.

"We have the same stresses on the work force" that Soldiers have, including deployments, and family and financial problems, she said, adding that she wants to make AMC the champion of civilian programs that address suicide prevention, sexual harassment and civilian participation in the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program.

"These are not just programs, these are focused efforts to help maintain our work force ... It is important to teach people how to deal with challenges. Many people can learn from hard times and become stronger when they take on adversity," Dunwoody said.

No matter the challenge, AMC employees always find a way to achieve the mission to "develop, deliver and sustain materiel to ensure a dominant joint force for the U.S. and our allies."

"I am amazed at the resiliency of this incredible work force," Dunwoody said. "We are there, we make it happen and we're very, very successful."

As part of the Worldwide Town Hall, Dunwoody also presented recognition to two groups of employees - recipients of the annual AMC safety awards competition/Department of the Army awards competition and recipients of the Louis Dellamonica Award for Outstanding Performance.

Safety Award recipients were: TACOM LCMC, Warren, Mich.; Joint Munitions Command, Rock Island, Ill.; TACOM LCMC Transportation Support Team, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Kingston, Tenn.; Garrison, Pine Bluff Arsenal, Ark.; Brigade, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, Texas; AMC Band, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Anniston Army Depot; and Sue Turton of the Anniston Army Depot.

Dellamonica Award recipients were: Colin Christie, CECOM logistics assistance representative, Sustainment Command; Stan Citron, chief, General Law Division, AMC Headquarters; Lt. Col. Christopher Day, commander, Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Joint Munitions Command; Dr. C. Patrick Dunne, research chemist and senior adviser on nutritional biochemistry and advanced processing, Army Research Development and Engineering Command; Michele Fairservice, supply systems analyst, Tobyhanna Army Depot, CECOM; Jan Moren, deputy director, Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate, Army Research Development and Engineering Center; and Lori Reynolds, deputy G-1, Aviation and Missile Command.