The Army Materiel Command's diverse and global workforce came together May 13 for an "azimuth check" from Gen. Dennis L. Via, AMC commander.
During an hour-long Global Town Hall, Via thanked the gathered workforce for their continued support to the warfighter, and their significant contributions and sacrifices.
"The nation has been at war for more than 13 years. It's been a heavy burden, but everyone continues to deliver support to the Warfighter," Via said.
The town hall allowed the commander to highlight key AMC activities and events, discuss new initiatives, recognize some outstanding performers, and talk about the way ahead for AMC. To ensure maximum participation, the event was broadcast by the video teleconferencing system to more than 300 AMC entities around the world, reaching every corner of AMC's global materiel enterprise.
One key area of emphasis was the continued era of fiscal uncertainty.
"Fiscal uncertainty is going to be with us for a period of time," said Via, calling 2013 a "challenging" year, particularly for AMC's predominately civilian workforce. Despite sequestration, furloughs, hiring freezes and other challenges, Via said he was proud that the civilian workforce "contended with all of that, and performed the mission in a huge way."
Via reminded the workforce that sequestration is planned to be a 10-year process, and that we are currently only into the second year. "We will posture the command to leverage any additional funding. We plan to manage to fiscal reality, rather than react to it," he said.
Part of dealing with the new fiscal reality, Via said, is looking in-depth at missions AMC and its subordinate commands picked up during the years of heavy conflict. "We assumed many missions. Not all those are enduring. We've had missions increase and expand to support the war. We know as we decrease in size, we have to look at what needs to end, and what we need to continue," he said, adding that he is very confident in AMC's ability to move forward.
One thing is certain, Via said. "We must continue to reshape the command to always be prepared for the next contingency. No matter where that contingency is, it's going to require someone from AMC to do something. I can assure you AMC will be involved in some way."
Social Sharing