FORT RILEY, Kan. - "It is often stated that the right person in the right place at the right time can make a difference," said Command Sgt. Maj. Terry Braddock, command sergeant major, Installation Management Command - West Region. "It's quite evident when you move around this installation and see everything that goes on and then what's happening behind the scenes."
Braddock visited Fort Riley Aug. 26 to spend some time with Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Ian Mann and also to recognize the awardees of the Garrison Soldier and Noncommissioned Officer of the Year for IMCOM - West.
"I travel around to ensure that our Soldiers, civilians, Families and contractors get the very best and nothing less," Braddock said. "I think that they are deserving of that. We ask much of our Soldiers and demand much of our civilians. For us not to give back to them, to me, is a travesty, and I cannot let that happen."
During his visits to installations in the IMCOM - West region, Braddock checks to ensure leaders are providing "that quality grade of service that Soldiers deserve."
Facing challenges is evident every day, and Braddock wants to ensure funding is balanced across all installations.
"That's not always easy because there are some services that we have to close ... which means that you have to take away those jobs and that's not easy," he said. "But when you look at what we have as far as a budget, we have to be smart about what we deliver our customers. So we have to know the concerns of our customer. We have to ensure that we meet the needs of our customers, not the wants - the wants is the luxury."
While visiting installations in the region, Braddock looks at housing areas, commissaries, schools and other areas that provide services - "anything from a concessionary stand to the largest infrastructure that we have on this installation" - to see exactly how IMCOM is meeting the needs of the customers - civilians, contractors, Soldiers and their Families.
"We're all here for one reason and one reason only - for the Soldier - that's why we do what we do, and I think that everybody can appreciate that, and I hope that the Soldiers can appreciate what we do," Braddock said.
Braddock has visited Fort Riley several times since taking his position in 2006 and said each time he comes back, there's a constant of new development and changes for the better.
The military construction taking place at Fort Riley is "to give a Soldier a place that they can be proud of, that they want to stay at, that they want to reenlist for," Braddock said.
"This is a great place for Soldiers, Families, contractors and civilians to work, play and live because (Fort) Riley understands what it means to be out front and take care of the Soldiers, take care of their Families and make it a place that people will want to come back to, not hurry up and get away from," he said.
The job of IMCOM at the regional level ensures the success of the garrison commander and his or her staff, he said.
"We know that the job of the garrison commander and his command sergeant major and everyone underneath him or her is critical because of what they do every day and what's expected of them," Braddock said. "So at the region level, we want to make sure that we understand and that we have a sense of urgency to meet that urgency."
During the employee of the month ceremony Aug. 26 at the garrison headquarters, Braddock addressed the civilian workforce with a few words.
"People don't really understand or expect the behind the scenes and that's what stands up here right now," Braddock said. "You enable things to happen on this installation, and because of what you do, this installation prospers as well as it does."
Braddock said he believes there are two ways to view history - those that are part of it and those that make it.
"You are the make it part and you need to be looking at this in a way of where it says a lot about what you do every single day," Braddock said. "You might not see, you may not even hear it but a lot of people know it."
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