VIEW ORIGINAL
VIEW ORIGINAL
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- Omar J. Jones IV was promoted to three-star general and assumed command of U.S. Army Installation Management Command July 5 at the Fort Sam Houston Theater.
U.S. Army Materiel Command’s commanding general, Gen. Ed Daly, promoted Lt. Gen. Jones and hosted the change of command ceremony. Lt. Gen. Jones replaced Lt. Gen. Douglas M. Gabram, who commanded the global organization since January 2020.
Retired Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel B. Allyn hosted a retirement ceremony for Gabram immediately after the change of command. Gabram retired after 38 years of faithful service, including multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan in command of combat formations.
Life changed drastically
During the change of command, Daly reminded those in attendance how less than three weeks after Gabram assumed command, life changed drastically for IMCOM and its 73 Army bases around the world. This was when the U.S. Army Garrison in Daegu, South Korea, made news as the first location outside of China to have an outbreak of COVID-19.
In those early days of the pandemic it was Gabram who set policy for, and applied leadership to, Army garrison commanders around the world. These leaders, in turn, led teams of professionals to keep Army installations safe and operational, critical services open and the community informed. Gabram curated COVID-related tactics and lessons learned from Daegu – and later garrisons in Italy and Germany – and shared them across the Army, improving stateside garrisons’ ability to protect the force from COVID.
On Tuesday, Daly went on to highlight several of the more valuable IMCOM advancements under Gabram’s command. “This command refined and coordinated the Army Facilities Investments Plan, a 10-year, $15 billion effort to prepare our installations for the modern weapon systems that are coming. $11 billion was allocated to construct barracks and child development centers and restore installation readiness facilities. Your work with our RCI partners resulted in $1.6 billion of private investment to construct and renovate housing on 20 installations.”
During his opportunity at the lectern, Gabram reiterated the important role garrison commanders play on behalf of the Army. “Garrison commanders are our center of gravity,” said Gabram.
“Every day (garrison commanders) hold the line against quality-of-life issues in barracks and homes, contaminated water, money shortages and social media drama … and that’s just before lunch,” said Lt. Gen. Douglas Gabram.
As the final speaker of the change of command ceremony, Jones told the audience, “Command is all about investing in people and building strong teams. We are lucky in that IMCOM is already a very strong team.” Jones went on to talk about the importance of what IMCOM does for Soldiers, Families and civilians, and said, “It is my honor to remain in your ranks, and I look forward to the good we will do together.”
Before assuming command, Jones served for one year as the Deputy Commanding General of IMCOM. Prior to his role as DCG, Jones served as the Commanding General for the Joint Task Force – National Capital Region and the U.S. Military District of Washington.
The ceremonies were well attended in person and virtually by numerous current and former general officers, members of the Senior Executive Service, business and civic leaders, members of IMCOM past and present, and a large contingent of family members supporting both the outgoing and incoming commanders.
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