Miller leads community recreation as Oktoberfest looms

Just weeks before the biggest MWR event on Redstone Arsenal, Jacob Miller got on a plane in Italy to fly to Huntsville to start a new job. That job? Oversee Oktoberfest, the favorite fall event for the Redstone community.

Miller has succeeded Gaylene Wilson, who served as the chief of the community recreation division in the Garrison’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation directorate for 10 years until she retired. As the new chief, he doesn’t plan on any big changes.

“Honestly, I’m not a big ‘come in and shake things up’ kind of guy,” Miller said. “I’m going to spend the first six months to a year just assessing. I’ve never seen these events before; this is my first time. I really do like to sit back and be a fly on the wall and see how things run. If I can help out with an experience I’ve had before as far as streamlining or efficiency or if a process needs to change, I’m all for doing that. But coming in and changing things isn’t my personality.

“I’m really going to rely on my managers to own their programs and run their events. I’m absolutely there to support. I want to be a part of the team. I want to get my hands dirty. I’m a programmer at heart, that’s where my heart is. So, getting out of this office and being present at my facilities and at the events is a big priority for me.”

Miller’s leadership style comes from a breadth of experience at both Army and Navy bases big and small.

He started with the Navy in Kings Bay, Georgia and continued with the Navy in Millington, which is outside of Memphis. Then, he worked with the Army at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Then back to the Navy in Meridian, Mississippi. Then, overseas to Naval Air Station Sigonella, home to more than 4,000 troops, civilian personnel, and family members. Finally, Miller flew to Huntsville two weeks ago.

“So, they all had great aspects to them,” he said. “Kings Bay and Fort Stewart were great because Georgia is home for me. They’re familiar. Millington was great, that’s where I stayed the longest and that’s where I had the most professional growth. I had two jobs. I jumped from an adult sports coordinator up to the fitness sports and aquatics division head. Meridian was great because that was the widest scope of responsibility I had.”

Then laughing he said, “Sigonella was great because it’s Italy. We were there two and a half years.”

Miller, a 2009 University of Georgia graduate, is excited about the opportunities at Redstone Arsenal because it’s not like any other base he’s worked.

“Redstone is really a night and day difference base population-wise from what I’ve dealt with before,” he said. “Kings Bay was a bunch of submariners. Millington was very top-heavy in admin. I would say Millington would be the closest comparison to here. But Millington is tiny. It’s 2,000 people. And Fort Stewart is huge. There’s a bigger active-duty population. Meridian was small but it was all students with constant turnover. Sigonella was a small community with a lot of NATO people.”

Miller is beginning to understand the unique nature of Redstone Arsenal and looks forward to the challenges.

“But here, where it’s like 800 active-duty to 30,000 to 40,000 Defense Department workers. It’s completely different than anywhere I’ve ever worked before,” he said. “It’s a population I haven’t focused on professionally before. Redstone is going to challenge me to keep the active duty to the forefront of what we do but also pay closer attention to the civilian and retiree population to a degree I haven’t had to do before.”

Oktoberfest is on Miller’s radar now.

“Oktoberfest is two weeks away (Sept. 19-21) and the feedback I’ve gotten is that’s the biggest thing we do. I attended the first meeting this morning. I finally got computer access, so I’ve been getting a crash course in Oktoberfest. The team is doing great,” he said.

“One thing I will say is that it is very encouraging to me to see how well the different base entities work together and collaborate. MWR would not be able to do it without the other entities on this base. Whether it’s security or fire or EMS, public works especially; we must collaborate. If we can’t then these events don’t work.”

After the long flight from Italy to Alabama, Miller is excited about the challenges in front of him and to call Redstone Arsenal home and get out and explore North Alabama.

“My family and I are really excited to be here,” he said. “We’re excited for all the outdoorsy and family activities that there are around here. The people are great. The department is great. The team is great. I’m excited to be here.”