FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – Installation Management Command’s Lt. Gen. Omar J. Jones IV, commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Jason R. Copeland visited U.S. Army Garrison Wednesday and received a behind-the-scenes tour of some the primary directorates responsible for keeping the lights on and taking care of Soldiers and their families.
Since becoming the commanding general for IMCOM, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio, Jones has travelled extensively, with the goal of speaking to every Army installation in the world.
“The sergeant major and I travel like this almost every single week,” Jones said. “We’ll work in San Antonio on Monday and Tuesday, then get on a plane and go someplace in the world and spend all day Wednesday with one of the teams.”
Jones explained that even with today’s technology, he feels it is important to meet with people face-to-face. He said things like phone calls and video meetings, while important, simply cannot compare to talking with groups of people in person.
“We do plenty of meetings back in San Antonio, but what we can’t do, without actually coming here, is to look people in the eye and say, ‘thank you,’” he said.
“We want to give you a very sincere ‘thank you’ for what you do and show appreciation for the difference you make here for this installation, and as part of the garrison team and everything that happens here which you all support. [Coming here] gives us the opportunity to listen to many of you, in various groups. And those two reasons are why we are here.”
Jones and Copeland met with teammates from the Directorate of Emergency Services (DES), Directorate of Public Works (DPW), airfield and range managers from the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security (DPTMS), Directorate of Human Resources (DHR), and the Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare & Recreation (DFMWR) including staff and children at the New Beginnings Child Development Center (CDC), along with the Maj. Gen. Christopher Eubank, commanding general, Network Enterprise Technology Command.
The CDC takes care of the youngest members of the Army family, from birth up to preschool age, and the IMCOM CG reminded the staff there how vital they are to the Army mission. If Soldiers know their children and families are being taken care of, then they are better able to do their jobs, he said. Because of that, Jones makes it a point, at every installation he visits, to speak with staff at the CDC.
“We [as Soldiers] hear ‘Thank you for your service’ a lot,” he said. “But I think we forget a lot that our Department of the Army civilians serve as well.
“You all could have done other things. You all could have worked someplace else. You had a lot of other choices. I think a lot of times we don’t take the time to recognize how our civilians serve also, and volunteer to serve, and that you are a critical piece of what the Army does.”
This was a message he repeated at each of his stops.
“We can’t succeed without you,” Jones emphasized. “Whatever you do for this organization, please know that what you do makes a difference, and it makes a difference not just for Fort Huachuca, not just for IMCOM, but really for the whole Army.”
After thanking each of the teams they met with, the commander and sergeant major would ask for questions and suggestions from those in attendance and listened to the concerns and comments that were voiced. They explained that each installation within the Army is different, and each has its own unique challenges, and that by speaking with the people who work there, they can get a better feel for how things are going.
“When we come to each of these places,” Jones said, “we don’t focus on construction sites, we don’t focus on buildings. What we do is focus on people. And that is why we are here. We are working our way around to all 80 installations in the world, and that is our only message, ‘Thank you, what you do makes a difference.’ And then we listen to you and see what we can do better for you.”
During the visit, Jones recognized five members of the Fort Huachuca garrison team with his commander’s coin: Marlon Stokes, official mail handler (DHR); Anna Petersen, budget analyst (DRM); Amy South Worth, management support assistant (DPW); Josue Miranda, assistant chief of Business & Recreation Operations Division (DFMWR); and Aneesha Avalos, workforce development specialist (DPTMS).
“If you get nothing else out of our visit today,” he said, “I hope you remember that two guys stopped by today and said, ‘Thank you.’”
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Fort Huachuca is home to the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, the U.S. Army Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Army Signal Command and more than 48 supported tenants representing a diverse, multiservice population. Our unique environment encompasses 946 square miles of restricted airspace and 2,500 square miles of protected electronic ranges, key components to the national defense mission.
Located in Cochise County, in southeast Arizona, about 15 miles north of the border with Mexico, Fort Huachuca is an Army installation with a rich frontier history. Established in 1877, the Fort was declared a national landmark in 1976.
We are the Army’s Home. Learn more at https://home.army.mil/huachuca/.
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