Knowledge is power: staying informed key to success

By Col. Deborah GraysJune 2, 2011

Knowledge is power: staying informed key to success
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Corps awards contract for spillway rock removal
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Corps awards contract for spillway rock removal
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Commander’s Message

Garrison Commander

Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem

Today there was more evidence that our closure date is nearly upon us. U.S. Army Central/Third Army, U.S Army Reserve Command and First Army all had their colors casing ceremonies and are preparing to move to their new locations.

Last week, the food court at Fort McPherson closed, as well as the Fort Gillem Burger King. Monday, Youth Services closed for the last time and the Army Career and Alumni Program training came to an end. Tuesday Fort McPherson’s gym operations, “Hang-Ups” frame operation, Leisure activities, college classes and Fort Gillem’s Gregory Cottage closed.

I hope that none of those events came as a surprise to any of you. We, as a command, have done our level best to keep you informed regarding timelines, closures and special events. You’ve heard me say before that knowledge is power. I believe that with all my heart and I want to empower all of you to better accomplish our current mission and prepare for your next step after BRAC.

We have used many lines of communications to keep you informed. We have held 12 town hall meetings with timeline slides and subject matter experts to answer your questions. Those town hall slides are posted on the McGil Portal (https://macgil.forscom.army.mil/Pages/Default.aspx). In addition, the portal is updated with fresh information nearly daily.

Of course, we have used the News Brief section of the Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem Sentinel to keep you up to speed. When I felt that this was not enough, I charged the Sentinel staff to dedicate an entire page just for the BRAC calendar of events. Every Friday, 3,500 issues are spread out over 25 locations on McPherson, 11 on Gillem and two at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

PAO has also been sending out “Garrison All” e-mails to inform you regarding upcoming events, changes and closures. They have assured me they have scrubbed their e-mail list to ensure every command and directorate on our two installations is receiving all the pertinent information.

In addition, our PAO maintains two social media sites. You can “friend” us on Facebook by typing ‘Fort McPherson and Gillem’ in the search block at the top of your page. We currently have more than 270 friends on our page, but there is plenty of room for more. Not only will you be able to keep up with upcoming BRAC related events, but Kristin Gordon posts new information from the Directorate Family Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR) there as well. You can also follow us on Twitter at @Fort_McPherson. A brief synopsis of new information is launched from that site as it becomes available.

Finally, you can help spread the word by sharing what you know with your colleagues. We’re still in the business of taking care of our battle buddies. Make sure you share the power with every person who you think may be affected by the events taking place over the next 104 days. In the next week or so, we have several events that may be important to you.

On Sunday, the Post Chapel will be decommissioned and move to the Post Theater. On Tuesday, Cantonment Chapel will be decommissioned and follow suit. The next cash and carry sale will be at Fort McPherson’s Youth Services (Bldg. 400) June 16-17. Also on June 17, the Garrison will be holding a day full of events, starting with a 5K walk/run at 8:30 a.m. The Garrison will then case its colors at 11 a.m. in front of the Garrison Headquarters Building (Bldg. 65) on the Cobb Street side. Finally, a cake cutting to celebrate the Army birthday and a cook out at Jacobs Park will follow at noon.

Pass on the information. You never know who might want to attend the decommissioning services, the cash and carry sale or any other upcoming event or closure.

Join us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Sentinel will be a great source of information and can be found on the newsstands until the last issue June 24.

Empower yourself.