CASCOM senior leadership meets and greets Fort Lee Soldiers departing for holiday block leave

FORT LEE, Va. – On a cold Monday morning, Maj. Gen. Mark T. Simerly, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command and Fort Lee commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Jorge C. Escobedo, CASCOM’s senior enlisted leader, met Fort Lee Soldiers departing for the holidays Dec. 20 at the start of Fort Lee’s annual Holiday Block Leave period.

The event’s purpose was to provide support, words of advice, boost morale, and allow Soldiers to meet with CASCOM’s senior leadership. The leadership team visited Soldiers at two locations in the local Richmond, Virginia area -- the pickup site for Soldiers traveling home in Privately Owned Vehicles and the Richmond International Airport.

“It’s always important for leadership to take time out of their schedules to talk and interact with their Soldiers, especially right before the holidays,” Simerly said. “By visiting our troops face-to-face, it reinforces the message that we care about our Soldiers and also sets a positive example of what great leaders do for their people. We want our Army teammates to be safe, act responsibly, and enjoy their well-earned leave with their loved ones over this year’s Holiday Block Leave period.”

Simerly and Escobedo's visit included students attending Advanced Individual Training. The CACSOM Enterprise oversees 57 sustainment-related Military Occupation Specialties including those taught at the Quartermaster School, Ordnance School, Transportation School, and Army Logistics University.

“It’s very nice actually for the General to visit us,” said Pvt. Christopher Cooke, a native of Lincolnton, North Carolina and a 91B – Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic. “It’s very nice at Fort Lee compared to Basic [Training]. We get a lot of freedoms here.”

At the POV site, the commander and command sergeant major also spoke with the Soldiers’ friends and family members.

Pvt. Cooke’s grandmother, Dawn Cooke, also from Lincolnton, North Carolina, thought that Simerly’s visit gave a positive perception about CASCOM, Fort Lee, and its leadership.

“I think it says a lot about the base,” said Cooke. “Their leadership actually cares about their Soldiers here.”

Lenes Armelin, a Washington, D.C. native, was waiting to pick up his son, Pfc. Demetrius Armelin, and spoke with Simerly. “It’s exciting to meet the General,” said Lenes. Lenes stated that had also had another son currently serving in the Army and one daughter who is a military veteran.

While at the Richmond International Airport near Richmond, Virginia, Simerly and Escobedo also visited Soldiers and United Service Organizations volunteers at the airport’s terminal and USO Lounge.

In addition both the commander and command sergeant major toured the airport’s Transportation Security Administration security and baggage screen process with Robin C. “Chuck” Burke, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport.

Burke, a military veteran himself who served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman during the Vietnam War, remarked that the treatment and support of today’s servicemembers by their military leadership and fellow citizens compared to his era is “incredible and has improved for the better.”

CASCOM is one of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s major subordinate commands, providing training and education for sustainment professionals, both military and Department of Army civilians at all leadership levels, developing and implementing capabilities, concepts, and doctrine, and executing functional proponency to enable the Army’s Sustainment Warfighting Function.

For more information, visit https://cascom.army.mil or https://www.facebook.com/USACASCOM.

For more information about Holiday Block Leave, visit https://fortleepresscenter.com/hbl/.