Pine Bluff Arsenal leadership as of the end of April have made a business decision to stand up a new Directorate of Emergency Services or DES. This new organization consolidates all of the Arsenal's first responders (not including medical support) into one sharing a common focus.
"This directorate will become effective April 29. For efficiency, effectiveness and affordability, the DES will put all the critical installation support missions of law enforcement, security, fire and emergency services and emergency management operations into one organization," said Don Police, DES director. "The Directorate of Law Enforcement and Security will be going away in name only and will essentially become a division of DES along with Fire and Emergency Services."
When the Army realigned under the Installation Management Agency which is a predecessor to the Army's Installation Management Command, they stood up new organizational charts, said Police. "They developed standard Garrison Organization guides which created directorate of emergency services," he said.
Police said when he was at Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Air Field in Georgia, they were the first Army Forces Command installation to be realigned under the IMCOM Garrison Organization guides. "We went from a Directorate of Public Safety to a Directorate of Emergency Services," he said.
This is not something that is new, said Police. "Back in 2005, under Col. Brian Lindamood, I was tasked to do the first assessment towards standing up this directorate," he said. "He knew I came from an installation who had already been through this. Col. Bill Barnett and Col. David Musgrave also had me take a look at it. So this has been in the works for a few years now. It just makes sense."
There is going to be multiple ways to consolidate even further with maintenance of alarm systems and training. "We are just going to take our tie and do this right so it won't end up costing more money," said Police. "We are going to try to save money wherever we can."
"I'm really excited about this," said Roch Byrne, Arsenal Deputy to the Commander. "We were close to losing an opportunity to use Don's expertise since he is on the verge of retirement. He is the right person at the right time to pull this group together and make it work."
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