TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. - On July 29, Col. Charles C. Gibson assumed command of Tobyhanna Army Depot. He recently took time to speak with The Tobyhanna Reporter about himself and his first impressions of Tobyhanna.
He describes himself as a warrior, leader, father, husband, and a proud American, who values family, loyalty and integrity. A native of Baltimore, Md., he joins the depot family, accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and son, Charles.
Gibson is a recent graduate of the U.S. Army War College, and arrives here with leadership skills earned during 22 years of service. While attending the Army War College he studied strategic leadership, and notes that he possesses a wealth of critical thinking and problem solving skills, adaptive leadership, and "most importantly, a commonsense approach to what it is we will accomplish together as a team."
Tobyhanna's senior officer brings with him a leadership style that is positive, demanding and honest. He is a firm believer in open communication and encourages out-of-the-box thinking.
Gibson says his first impression of Tobyhanna was the professionalism of the work force at the leader, management and shop floor level.
"The entire team seems to be very motivated in getting the mission done."
Although he was not familiar with Tobyhanna until about two years ago, Gibson says, as a warfighter, he has been a customer of the depot for 22 years.
"I had a great experience with Tobyhanna as I led the Reset mission for 25th Infantry Division in 2007," he says. "We were having issues with another facility that was resetting over 1,000 of our night vision goggles (NVGs)." He heard about the "great work Tobyhanna did with Resetting NVGs" and contacted the Army Materiel Command liaison to ship the Reset items to the depot.
"The turnaround time and quality was tremendous once we received our equipment back," Gibson says, adding that it was "a successful event for the 25th Infantry Division and our warfighters."
He notes that the work done at Tobyhanna is vital to the mission's success.
"The reason Tobyhanna exists is to support the warfighter - period," he emphasizes, and noting that "every mission we execute has an impact on the warfighter, either as he or she is in the Reset, training, or ready-to-deploy phase, or in the fight."
Gibson says the mission is larger than he had expected.
"In my first two weeks I was overwhelmed at the amount of requirements and tasks that we do on a daily basis," he explained.
He notes that the mission is vital and reminds Tobyhanna employees that they are a huge part of the Army Materiel Command team in support of the warfighter.
"I consider myself a team player and I am looking forward to the great ideas from the entire work force - from the directors to the great civilian work force on the floor," he says, noting that "the key will be turning these great ideas into mission success."
As summer winds down he noted that he and his family have set a goal to learn to ski this winter.
Gibson has earned numerous awards, including the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Clusters.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is the Defense Department's largest center for the repair, overhaul and fabrication of a wide variety of electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network. Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces.
About 5,600 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.
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