Dec. 22, 2021
FORT HOOD, TX -- First Army Division West hosted a Leader’s Forum at Fort Hood’s Gen. Richard Cavazos Mission Training Complex on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15, in conjunction with the Division West Change of Command held on Dec. 16. The forum served as a place where command teams from across Division West and First Army leadership met to discuss today’s mobilizations and problem sets involved for the next five to seven years.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Richard F. Johnson, commanding general of Division West, spoke to all attending senior leaders at the beginning of the forum.
“I just want to talk. I want us to have a conversation,” Johnson said during his opening remarks. “This is a conversation with leadership, and not to be just a lecture. We owe the Army back some thought and analysis on the current construct, and discussion on whether or not it is where it needs to be. We will work through that together with a series of exercises in this forum.”
Johnson reminded the audience about rolling costs the U.S. Army uses to shape quality of life for all Soldiers in every aspect of their service, and how Army leaders will need to explore what Soldiers will need to execute future missions.
“We owe the Army a new solution to large-scale mobilization operations [LSMO] for our Army National Guard and Army Reserve. The U.S. Army is focused on building the force structure with new weapon systems and future platforms, and it is up to us as leaders to ensure these forces are able to adapt, while they are also fulfilling support missions in the homeland,” said Johnson. “We must prepare our future leaders to be agile and adaptable to execute mission command. Remember, that everything you do, there is always someone, a person, at the far end [from subordinate leaders, Soldiers’ families, and communities], who is depending on your decisions and actions.”
The format allowed various engagements from guest service members and speakers throughout both days. In-depth discussion on leadership principles, resiliency, and recognizing today’s military challenges for the Army’s Total Force took place with immediate feedback from the audience to the session speakers.
Attendance included Lt. Gen. Antonio A. Aguto, commanding general of First Army, Command Sgt. Maj. McDwyer, command sergeant major of First Army, Division West’s new commanding general, Brig. Gen. Joseph A. Edwards, and incoming command sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. William A. Justice, five brigade command teams, and their respective battalion commanders and sergeants major from across the division.
Special guest speakers included Mr. William Hamilton, Deputy Director G-3/5/7 of U.S. Army Reserve Command, Ms. Kathleen G. McDill, G-3 of U.S. National Guard Bureau, Chaplain (Col.) Laurence Blazer, Massachusetts Army National Guard and Deputy Chaplain for U.S National Guard Bureau, U.S. Army retired Jeffry Hartman, consultant to U.S. Army Europe and Africa, and Dr. Geoffrey Tumlin, communications consultant and innovation speaker from Houston, Texas.
Mr. Hamilton dialed in virtually, and spoke from U.S. Army Reserve Command Headquarters, covering currently mobilized reserve units, future outlook for LSMO and resourcing needs for Army Reserve units. In turn, Ms. McDill was able to share with the audience similar unit level priorities and outlook for Army National Guard units, resulting in attending leaders further sharing and discussing both Army components’ mobilizations and force capabilities.
Following her hosted session, McDill was very pleased with the turn-out of the forum.
“I wanted to facilitate conversation and I don’t think we got off topic. So, I was encouraged when others raised their hands,” said McDill. “That was my intent --that they ask questions, that they share experiences, and that they share thoughts, so that we can collaborate.”
McDill spoke about various systems and processes used by Army National Guard units to quickly and properly prepare for homeland deployments, as well as needs for overseas deployments in the event of LSMO.
“If units are not as trained as we think they are by planning assumptions, then they’re going to be at mobilization sites longer, they’re not going to clear out as fast,” said McDill. “I’d like commanders to think about what other options we have available to us.”
Both days of the forum also introduced outside perspectives and reflection on service and force sustainment. Day-one ended with reviewing the importance of faith services in the military, while day-two concluded with creativity and innovation opportunities for leaders and Soldiers.
Chaplain (Col.) Bazer began his seminary as a rabbi for the U.S. Army in 1989, and shared his experiences as the most senior ranking Jewish chaplain of the entire U.S. Armed Forces. He discussed what the Chaplain Corps can bring to all components of the U.S. Army, especially for units on deployments.
“In the Chaplain Corps, we see ourselves as special staff to the commander along with the surgeons, and the JAG…it is really important that we all work together,” said Bazer. “So, I look forward to talking about what we do and share with you an open discussion on how to deal with diversity issues within your ranks.”
Diversity issues across all three components of the Army covered racism, gender issues, religious intolerance issues, clothing exemption issues, and even coronavirus vaccination exemption issues.
Bazer concluded the session by answering religious affairs questions from senior leaders, and shared his hope for a prosperous future to all attendees in the forum.
Dr. Geoffrey Tumlin, a strategic communications consultant and Army Veteran, introduced senior leaders to how inspiring Soldiers can generate creativity and innovation to enhance Army training and increase Soldier readiness.
“Generating creativity and innovation is a two-step process. The first step requires working the problem and knowing what the problem is about. You cannot have legitimate innovation and creativity if you do not have any knowledge of the problem,” said Dr. Tumlin. “Knowledge is foundational to a leader’s actions in helping others fully understand and work any given problem --by putting brain power and some combination of experience to that. The second step is to ease off the work on the problem. To be creative or have ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking, have Soldiers go do something else [like taking a walk or go for a run] and then let the insight to the solution emerge.”
He explained creative and innovative solutions are an emotional response –a team of Soldiers will know they have solved a problem if it feels right. In addition, self-discipline strategies, philosophy on stoicism, and time management techniques were several subjects he covered to help relate to Army training tasks and mobilizations.
Getting the commanders to think about things they don’t usually consider was the goal by the guest speakers. Jeffry Hartman, a consultant to U.S. Army Europe and Africa, introduced such scenarios through using U.S. adversary’s military’s strengths and vulnerabilities as an example.
“The more we discuss, especially at the senior leader level, and senior leaders get an understanding of how they’re organized, how they’re led, how they fight, and they’re vulnerabilities, it’s always a plus, I think, to us,” said Hartman.
These different sessions allowed the command teams to streamline their units once they return, which is something Master Sgt. Sateen Lopez, an acting sergeant major under the 181st Infantry Brigade, is excited for.
“The readiness and the direction of where we are going is most interesting to learn,” said Lopez. “With this, I will be able to pass it back to our younger NCOs in our formations, and say ‘hey, this is the direction that it’s going to be going forward. So, this is what you guys need to be prepared for.’”
The discovery sessions and discussions ultimately ensured leaders under Division West are able to properly train and lead their Soldiers in the coming years. The Leader’s Forum introduced all attendees a new vision while moving forward into the New Year, because strong and well-prepared leaders make for strong and readied Soldiers.
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