AMCOM Town Hall Emphasizes Teamwork Behind Unified Action

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Building collaboration, bringing the team together and working toward better support of Soldiers are the goals of Maj. Gen. Douglas Gabram's vision for the Aviation and Missile Command as it works toward Unified Action with its partners.

Gabram spoke about Unified Action -- and the key words of trust, team, relationships and attitude -- at an AMCOM Town Hall Aug. 29. He also used the occasion to recognize several employees for their length of service and their professional achievements.

"Our number one priority is Unified Action," Gabram said. "We've got to remain flexible because change is upon us from multiple directions. We've got to change to stay relevant."

Unified Action -- the name AMCOM has given to an Army Materiel Command operational order announced about six months ago that realigns the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center and the Army Contracting Command-Redstone under the operational command of AMCOM -- is "about Soldier and about readiness. That's what we do," Gabram said. "Readiness is a team sport."

Since the operations order was announced, AMCOM leadership has been working with AMRDEC and ACC-Redstone along with its enterprise partners the program executive offices of Aviation, and Missiles and Space to "prioritize efforts," Gabram said. "Are we in line with what AMC wants us to do? Are we synchronized? We were working together before the Op Order. But this is making us stronger in terms of correlation and bringing the team together."

Gabram mentioned three recent developments -- the AH-64 Apache helicopter Pitch Change link, the UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter and the Multiple Mission Launcher -- as examples of programs where the AMCOM enterprise worked together to make a difference for Soldiers.

"Coming up with solutions is one example where we all benefit from Unified Action. The prioritization and visibility of programs lets the commander see what is going on across the enterprise, and in the science and technology world. Improving correlation and communication at my level and above will increase strategic and unit readiness," Gabram said.

With the UH-60V and MML programs, "AMRDEC has been on the ground floor in the development of technology that the AMCOM depots (in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Letterkenny, Penn.) will make. Corpus Christi is set to produce 700 UH-60V helicopters," he said. "Unified Action is bringing all that toward a common goal. The processes we are working through as we prioritize will help ACC-Redstone and AMRDEC, and they can certainly help us."

Gabram emphasized to employees that completely mandatory training should be more than a "check the box" action. Currently, 85 percent of AMCOM employees have completed their mandatory annual training.

"Let's approach the training where we can get something out of it and learn from each other. There's a lot of life experiences here at AMCOM," he said.

Gabram also talked about audit readiness (AMCOM is on target to reach 95 percent readiness by end of fiscal year 2017); year-end close out (AMCOM is taking a hard look at resources and requirements); employee safety; the performance triad (sleep, exercise and nutrition) and the upcoming command climate survey.

The climate survey, Gabram said, will help AMCOM leaders consider "How do we get better? How do we develop an action plan to move forward? We want your feedback … You are the most valuable asset we have."

Gabram also recognized several employees with various awards.

"Recognizing employees doesn't take a lot of effort. That's easy to do," he said. "We're finding out that a lot of our senior civilians don't have awards because we haven't taken the time to recognize them. We want to change that."

The following AMCOM employees received the Commander's Award for Civilian Service from Gabram:

• Pete Alampi -- Recognized for exceptional performance as the executive officer to the AMCOM deputy to the commanding general. His in-depth knowledge of AMCOM, unparalleled initiative and ability to manage many different projects simultaneously set the standard for other executive officers to follow.

• Derek Hartwig -- Recognized for outstanding civilian service as a budget analyst for AMCOM G-8, Resource Management. He created a consolidated report for the daily status of funds for AMCOM products and services. This report was critical in identifying funding strategies and successful execution of funds in support of the Soldier.

• Vivian Kimble -- Recognized for outstanding civilian service as a budget analyst for AMCOM G-8, Resource Management. She successfully defended Sustainment System Technical Support requirements, and obtained additional funding for this program to support aviation and missile systems which directly improved support to Soldiers.

• Kimley Pierce -- Recognized for exceptional performance as an Equal Employment Opportunity specialist for AMCOM. She displayed superior professional ability, initiative and meticulous attention to detail in conducting mediations, preparing reports and serving on the committee for Team Redstone Observance Events

• Paul Quintel -- Recognized for exceptional performance leading AMCOM's Operations Security Program. His enthusiastic spirit made this program the best for AMCOM and supported activities. He was recently recognized by the Department of the Army, receiving first place across the Army for the individual OPSEC award category.

• Thomas Reynolds -- Recognized for exceptional performance as AMCOM's value engineering manager. His leadership resulted in savings of $154 million on 98 completed projects throughout the aviation and missile life cycle management command and other activities.

Two employees who also received the Commander's Award for Civilian Service, but who were not in attendance were: Melanie Bone, who was recognized for her work as an AMCOM Equal Employment Opportunity specialist in leading diverse support efforts to ensure prompt response to the AMCOM workforce; and Travise "Pat" Brooks, who was recognized for her work as a budget analyst for AMCOM G-8, Resource Management in providing a level of technical expertise and dedication to excellence that sets her apart from her colleagues and led to a collaborative work environment.

Special awards were presented to:

• Thomas Reynolds -- He was recently recognized by the Office of Secretary of Defense for winning the "Outstanding Achievement through Value Engineering" award for his efforts, which saved $154 million for AMCOM.

• Gerald "Chappy" Chapman -- He was recently certified by the Department of the Army Office of Business Transformation as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification. He is the only certified black belt at Letterkenny Army Depot, Penn.

• Pamela Janek -- She led an effort to streamline the product quality deficiency report process at Corpus Christi Army Depot, Texas. This project saved $7 million over three years and reduced defects from 57 percent to 10 percent. She received a Department of the Army Lean Six Sigma Excellence Award for her efforts.

• Eric Andreas -- He led an improvement project on the AH-64 Apache gun turret flange repair process at Corpus Christi Army Depot. This effort saved $6.9 million, reduced labor costs by 89 percent and decreased process lead time by 78 percent. He received a Department of the Army Lean Six Sigma Excellence Awards Program Team Excellence.

The following employees were nominated at the AMCOM Senior Leader's Offsite by their directors or commanders as being Most Valuable Players, working hard every day, often behind the scenes, and contributing directly to the accomplishment of AMCOM's mission: John Bentley, John Mayes and Maxie Pooler, ACC-Redstone; Tabitha Horrocks, AMRDEC; Jim Jones, SAMD; Tracy Ralphs, AMCOM G-2; Scott Phillips, Wayne Ray, Scott Valent, Julia Vaughn and Benjamin White, ALC; and Larry Tarr, USATA; and from AMCOM's other locations -- Crystal Cosey, Corey Marshall, Carl Robillard, Letterkenny Army Depot; Enrique Gonzalez, Corpus Christi Army Depot; and Robert Tillery and Sgt. First Class Jeffrey Runyan, Aviation Center Logistics Command, Fort Rucker.

The following AMCOM employees were recognized for their length of service: 45 years -- Freddy Porter and David Sainsbury; 40 years -- James Sacco; 35 years -- Madonna Buckner, Melvin Mattox and Cosette Young; and 30 years -- Cynthia McCrary and Virgil Wiley.