FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Fort Riley's new Director of Human Resources Luis Ortega has been on the job for a little more than a month, but is already impressed with what he sees so far.
"I see that we have some great folks, some great employees," he said. "They are very conscientious about their jobs, about what they do. Some are very passionate about their work and they're all just starting to try and figure me out."
As they figure him out, he said they will learn that he believes strongly in basic leadership principles.
"It gets you far with everybody, whether you're talking to your boss or you're speaking to a lower enlisted Soldier or an employee," he said. "Respect other employees and respect everyone. Treat everybody the same. My pet peeve is poor customer service."
With a reduction of more than 100 authorized positions in the past decade, prompt customer service is difficult.
"We had 168 authorizations in 2011, we're down to 58," he said. "DHR is taking cuts every year but the amount of work is still there. It's always a redistribution and looking at how can we get everything done with the folks that we have we have left."
However, when the rubber hits road, there is no choice but to meet the challenge.
"We can tell the boss or make recommendations to the boss that this particular area may not be able to meet my standard of providing customer service within 30 minutes," he said. "It may take a little bit longer. In the ID card section they may have to sit there and wait a little bit longer, but we will still provide the service."
Staffing ranks high on his main challenges, but he said he deals with stress at work by first making sure he leaves any personal issues he has outside of the office.
"Then I come in here and I deal with whatever comes in with a smile on my face," he said. "I always talk to folks in a respectful way, and I say please and thank you."
Ortega comes to Fort Riley from Wiesbaden, Germany, where he served in the same position for more than two years. When this opportunity arose he jumped at it, not only because it was a promotion, but it also let him come back to the states and allowed him to work with Soldiers more.
The position is one he enjoys because of the large variety of work involved.
"You don't get the same thing every day," he said. "There are different situations, different types of issues - anything can come up."
Several post agencies and post responsibilities fall under the Director of Human Resources including Administrative Services Division, Freedom of Information Act requests, the post office and delivery system. The largest division is the Military Personnel Division, which handles promotions, reassignments and separations.
The retired Chief Warrant Officer 2 was born in Ecuador and moved to Queens, New York, when he was a child. He joined the Army right after high school and since then, wherever he is living is where he calls home.
"Kansas is nice, it's comparable to Fort Rucker, Alabama, where you have a small city outside and then you have to drive 15, 20 miles to go to the larger city," he said. "I enjoy the quiet slow pace of the country life."
He and his wife, Kenya, have a 14-year-old, 10-pound dachshund named Ollie. When he's not at work, Ortega finds stress relief in umpiring youth baseball, something that he got to Fort Riley too late for this year, but hopes to get involved in next season.
He also enjoys watching movies and reality TV. He intends to start getting out of the office and getting to know people on post as soon as he can get settled, but invites people to come by the office.
"If anyone is in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello," he said. "At some point I'll get out there and start meeting more folks but for right now I'm just trying to get my hands around everything."
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