FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 2, 2018) -- The general in charge of operating the installations where Soldiers live and train will explain the Army's "Divest, Reshape, Invest" strategy at a conference of defense and industry leaders.

Lt. Gen. Kenneth Dahl will lead 38 professionals from the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, or IMCOM, to the Association of Defense Communities' Installation Innovation Forum, or ADC IIF, Feb. 12 through 14 in San Diego, where they will promote partnerships to strengthen bonds between installations and surrounding communities.

The ADC IIF is the leading professional development forum focused on military installation innovation. The Army, Air Force and Marine Corps each will host a three-hour, service-specific preconference professional development workshop designed for installation commanders and community leaders on Monday morning.

Dahl, IMCOM's Commanding General, will be a speaker for the Army's preconference session, along with Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management, or ACSIM, and Sec. Jordan Gillis, acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installation, Energy and Environment.

Dahl's opening remarks will address the role of partnerships in the Army's "Divest, Reshape, Invest" strategy. Garrison commanders from Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, along with the Chief of Staff from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, will follow with 10-minute overviews of their partnerships, each of which received honors at the 2017 Army Community Partnership Recognition Ceremony.

Dahl also will speak on the "Empowering Innovative Installation Leaders" panel. As military bases continue to evolve, integrating community and regional partners, and adapt to new technologies and quality of life requirements, the session will address how to prepare and empower the next generation of installation leaders.

IMCOM's Intergovernmental Service Agreement program staff will partner with ACSIM's Army Community Partnership Facilitation Team to host a two-hour workshop focused on the ACP program's four-phase approach to establishing community partnerships, along with an overview of IMCOM IGSA processes. The workshop will provide garrisons and community counterparts a nuts-and-bolts approach to partnership program development and identify existing IMCOM Headquarters and Department of the Army resources to help support those efforts.

During the forum, 12 IMCOM representatives will serve on all-service panels. Also, IMCOM recruiting, sustainment and training directors have scheduled a closed-door session with representatives from the Army Chief of Staff for Installation Management and the Assistant Secretary of the Army Installations, Energy and Environment.

Craig Northridge, chief of the Master Planning Division for the Directorate of Public Works at U.S. Army Garrison Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, will be an IMCOM speaker during the Innovators Case Studies session on Redstone Arsenal's gate relocation. When longstanding congestion issues at the installation's main gate began to worsen, the regional support group for the post rallied its members, along with the state of Alabama, the developer, and a tenant of an enhanced-use leasing project on the arsenal, to finance and deliver a $12.9-million solution.

Lt. Col. Jeff Ivey, garrison commander at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, will be IMCOM's speaker on "The Future of Shared Services." The drive to create new and innovative military-community partnerships have been gaining steam during the past few years and new agreements being developed today are paving the way for larger collaborations. The panel will explore several projects that have pushed the envelope of possibilities when installations work with communities.

Fort Sill MWR Director Brenda Spencer-Ragland will represent IMCOM on a "Special Partnership Case Study -- Building a Healthy Military Community." Leveraging best practices from the Department of Defense Healthy Base Initiative and the new Healthy Army Communities project, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in partnership with the Lawton military community, is dramatically improving Soldier and Family readiness and quality of life. Areas of focus on and off-post include improvements in food, fitness, medical, schools, and recreation. Leaders from Fort Sill and the local Lawton community will provide an overview of how they partnered to leverage resources and engage key stakeholders to transform quality of life.

Col. Kyle Reed, garrison commander at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will represent IMCOM on the "Base of the Future -- Applications in Action." The Base of the Future is not just an abstract concept; it's happening on the ground at installations across the country. New technology systems are being piloted and redefining the way service members will work, train and live on military installations.

Dahl and other IMCOM leaders are excited about the conference, its objectives, and the installation management professionals who gather there to institutionalize a mindset that incorporates partnerships to enhance mission readiness in this era of reduced resources and expanding requirements.