FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (March 18, 2010) - The commander of Installation Management Command spoke to Fort Leavenworth Garrison Soldiers and civilian employees March 12 about the current situation in IMCOM and his vision for the future.
Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch thanked Garrison employees for their dedication to serving customers, outlined several current and future IMCOM campaign plans, and asked for recommendations and help in carrying out those plans.
"What you do day to day here is as important as what the Soldiers are doing today as they walk the streets in Iraq and Afghanistan in this Global War on Terrorism, and I don't ever want you to sell yourselves short," said Lynch at the Post Theater.
He said Soldiers are effective in combat and can focus on their mission because they know IMCOM Soldiers and employees are focused on caring for their families at home.
Lynch, who has commanded IMCOM since November, said he worked with his staff for three months to develop a campaign plan that outlines the strategy, vision and way ahead for IMCOM. He said the campaign plan would be presented at the Association of the U.S. Army's Institute of Land Warfare 2010 Army Installations Symposium and Exposition March 29 in San Antonio, Texas, and would be a touchstone for IMCOM Soldiers and employees at all levels.
Lynch said a new campaign plan would be written in about six months, and he encouraged Soldiers and employees to provide input to the new plan.
"We collectively have got to make IMCOM better," Lynch said.
Lynch said IMCOM has two ongoing campaigns in the field aimed at gathering customer and employee feedback to help IMCOM better serve Soldiers and families.
The first campaign is "Stamp Out Stupid," which he said examines time management practices and ways of doing things better and smarter. For example, Lynch said he reduced the number of data points, or metrics, collected for monthly installation status reports from 4,000 to 183.
He said the second campaign is about "How do we make IMCOM and the regions value added'"
Lynch said the campaign is examining the right size of IMCOM and contracting practices within the command, but said there would be no reduction in force for at least two years.
"What we've got to do is figure out, 'What does the right size IMCOM look like''" Lynch said.
He said IMCOM as an organization operates on a $28 billion annual budget, has 117,000 employees and oversees 163 installations Armywide. Lynch praised Fort Leavenworth as one of the best installations within the command.
"You all here at Fort Leavenworth are leading the way in the cost-cutting culture," Lynch said.
Lynch presented coins and awards to several Garrison employees for various accomplishments. Tabe Medill of Internal Review received a coin for leading a team in identifying areas of cost savings.
"What he (Lynch) had to say was pretty encouraging considering the current budget situation that we're in, and the recognition that Fort Leavenworth is getting for the cost culture," Medill said.
Medill said his team evaluated Garrison programs such as reimbursements and cell phone usage and made recommendations that could save about $3.5 million this fiscal year.
Col. Wayne Green, garrison commander, said Garrison Soldiers and employees have found innovative ways to continue to serve customers at a high level during a period of recession and shrinking Department of Defense budgets.
"Our customers are worth all that we can give them," Green said.
He said he wants autonomy and decision making at the lowest possible level where employees make contact with customers, and encouraged people to utilize the Customer Management Services and Interactive Customer Evaluation system to make recommendations for change, improvement or sustainment to Garrison services.
Angela Banks, CMS customer service officer, said the Garrison has received more than 800 submissions through ICE for the first two months of 2010, with a 90 percent positive rating. She described ICE as an effective tool for installation-level issues that can be resolved by managers or directors.
To submit a comment, positive or negative, about Garrison services, access the ICE system through the Garrison Web site at http://garrison.leavenworth.army.mil.
Lynch said IMCOM Soldiers and employees could e-mail him directly with ideas and suggestions at ricky.lynch@us.army.mil.
"Each one of you are as important to IMCOM as I am," Lynch said. "If you really want to know what's going on, you've got to talk to people."
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