FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - Command Sergeant Major for Installation Management Command Pacific Region, Command Sgt. Major Karl E. Schmitt, paid a visit to Fort Wainwright Wednesday to meet with Soldiers and families in the heart of the Last Frontier.
Schmitt addressed Soldiers, family members and leaders from Fort Wainwright during the Sponsorship Award Banquet, thanking them for their service and contributions.
"Money is what we need to help our Soldiers. With things more expensive in this economy, the more we have Soldiers doing (in battle) the more we want to do to help them with the stresses they endure and without money it's kind of hard to do," Schmitt said, "Finding more innovative ways to get at the end result without spending money is also a challenge."
Schmitt assumed responsibilities as Command Sergeant Major for IMCOM-Pacific Region operations in December 2010. The Region staff provides support for approximately 104, 000 Soldiers, family members, retirees and more than 26, 000 civilians in Alaska, Hawaii and Japan.
An article on www.imcom.pac.army.mil, earlier this year stated that Schmitt has held all NCO leadership positions and most recently served as the Brigade Task Force Command Sergeant Major for the 171st Infantry Brigade. "I've never worked at IMCOM, but I've been a customer for many years," he said.
Director of the Installation Management Command Pacific Region, Debra Zedalis said, "Command Sgt. Major Schmitt has tons of tactical experience but no BASOPS experience so he brings to us new eyes and a fresh perspective on how we (IMCOM) can and should support Soldiers and families. His love of Soldiers is visible, almost palpable, as you watch him engage and interact with them."
The Command Sergeant Major supports Soldiers being part of the athletic programs and sporting events that are available. "I think it's good to always partner with the community we live in and do whatever breaks down the barrier. We are part of the community and if we don't take an active role in the activities, how can we say we are really a part of that community'" Schmitt said. With a laundry list of military accomplishments, awards and decorations he is most proud of becoming a command sergeant major. "As you go through the ranks as an enlisted Soldier you want to make it as a sergeant major, and I'm pretty proud I got there," he said.
"In addition, he readily engages our civilian workforce and provides them a Soldier's insight to encourage them to think outside the box, in terms of service delivery and programs," Zedalis said. Besides his many talents and accomplishments, she said, "he is also a master mechanic and builder. There isn't anything the guy cannot do."
After not being in these types of conditions in over 20 years, Schmitt talked about the climate and isolation. He said he had to go out and move his car this morning (at 27 below zero) and he couldn't feel his face.
"I see how training in these conditions plays a huge factor when sending out Soldiers to Afghanistan, because of the terrain and temperatures. I feel the Soldiers in Alaska have to be more disciplined to work in these conditions. What amazed me is how the discipline indicators are so low, even when I was at Fort Greely, where it was brutal, barren and cold, they haven't had a DUI in 18 months and then it wasn't a Soldier, it was a contractor," Schmitt said. "I truly believe that training and living in a harsh environment does raise the discipline level."
Social Sharing