IMCOM-Europe welcomes first cohort to executive leadership program

By Anna Morelock, IMCOM-Europe Public AffairsJanuary 30, 2023

IMCOM-Europe Director Tommy Mize welcomes the first cohort of the Executive Leader Development Program during their orientation in Sembach, Germany.
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – IMCOM-Europe Director Tommy Mize welcomes the first cohort of the Executive Leader Development Program during their orientation in Sembach, Germany. (Photo Credit: Anna Morelock, IMCOM-Europe) VIEW ORIGINAL
From left to right: Federica LeMauk, Amy Cates, Nicole Hatch, Philip Merchant, Maria Brown, Tommy Mize, Robert Goodenow, Kathryn Dunbar, Ann Mauro, Taylor Wilson, Britney Fischer
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – From left to right: Federica LeMauk, Amy Cates, Nicole Hatch, Philip Merchant, Maria Brown, Tommy Mize, Robert Goodenow, Kathryn Dunbar, Ann Mauro, Taylor Wilson, Britney Fischer (Photo Credit: Anna Morelock, IMCOM-Europe) VIEW ORIGINAL

SEMBACH, Germany – Installation Management Command Europe welcomed 10 leaders from across its garrisons as the first cohort of its new Executive Leader Development Program.

IMCOM-Europe Director Tommy Mize welcomed the group the first morning of orientation where he discussed the importance of leader development, the importance of the U.S. Army in Europe and the role of IMCOM in supporting that mission across its garrisons. Mize also shared the importance of mentorship in his own career.

After retiring as an Army colonel after 30 years, Mize become a Department of the Army civilian.

“One of the things that struck me right up front in the civilian sector is there's a lot of discovery learning. It's a lot less structured in terms of your professional development; there's not a real clear path.”

ELDP was designed to mesh with other Army leader development programs and help bridge program gaps.

One of the newer employees in the program, Taylor Wilson, applied for ELDP as a continuation of the development she began as an Army intern. After a stint in the Peace Corps, Wilson joined the Army’s Installation Management career program as an intern in 2018. She rotated through numerous garrison directorates to learn where she best fit. For her, most recently, that is as an operations officer for U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz.

Taylor said she appreciated building her garrison knowledge as an intern and applied to ELDP to continue that journey. For orientation, the three-day journey could have even been a week, she said.

“I would have liked it to be even longer because there are so many aspects to higher-level leadership and so many layers to it,” Wilson said.

At orientation, the group received briefings from IMCOM and Army leaders, completed self-assessments, were introduced to their mentors and other IMCOM-Europe leaders, and learned about what was to come in the program, which runs through June.

Another member of the cohort, Amy Cates, came to her current position as the Community Ready and Resiliency integrator for USAG Italy, through a different route. When entering federal service, Cates, a registered dietician, came on board as a health promotion officer. That role then transitioned and brought her under IMCOM.

“I was excited for this opportunity to get more exposure to different directorates, learn more about the different processes and fill in the gaps of what I missed just because I came in the way I did,” Cates said of joining ELDP.

“I really loved hearing from all the IMCOM-E directors,” Cates said of her orientation experience. They all came in and talked to us and they were all very genuine and honest and raw and transparent. I loved, just they all said that they were here for us.”

Looking five to 10 years down the road, the success of the participants will be an important measure of the success of the ELDP, Mize said.

“It's hard to measure success day to day, I think you've got to look at success over time,” Mize said. “I think the true measure of success for us is to look into the future about five to 10 years, and see where everybody that's currently serving in Installation Management Command is. And when I say where they are it's both in terms of their personal goals, achieving those, as well as your professional goals.”

2023 ELDP Participants

  • Maria C. Brown, Internal Review and Audit Compliance, IMCOM-Europe
  • Amy R. Cates, Community Ready and Resiliency Integrator, USAG Italy
  • Kathryn M. Dunbar, Agreements, Resource Management Office, USAG Italy
  • Britney N. Fischer, Resource Management Office, USAG Stuttgart
  • Robert D. Goodenow, S-3 Operations, USAG Ansbach
  • Nicole M. Hatch, Future Operations Branch Chief, USAG Benelux
  • Federica S. LeMauk, Army Community Service, USAG Wiesbaden
  • Ann E. Mauro, P.E., Program Management Branch, Engineering Division, DPW, USAG Benelux
  • Philip C. Merchant, Safety Office, USAG Bavaria
  • Taylor I. Wilson, Operations Officer, USAG Rheinland-Pfalz