CAMP ZAMA, Japan – The director of U.S. Army Installation Management Command–Pacific traveled here Monday as part of her first official visit to Japan since assuming the role in August.
Brenda Lee McCullough said she was impressed with how the U.S. Army Garrison Japan team continues to enable mission success by taking care of those in the military community.
“Absolute awesome team,” she said. “As I have been touring the installation and getting the opportunity to interact with our employees … all I am finding is a passion to do good things, pride and ownership, and people who really want to come to work and support our mission.”
During McCullough’s visit, Col. Marcus Hunter, garrison commander, escorted the director as she received several briefings while visiting garrison assets, including housing units, support facilities and other infrastructure.
She also met with Maj. Gen. Dave Womack, U.S. Army Japan commander, and took time to recognize employees.
McCullough said the support the garrison provides to the community, such as child care, housing, public works, and fire and emergency services, bolsters the defense of both the U.S. and Japan.
“All of that combined allows our military leaders and our Soldiers,” she said, “to have the peace [of] knowing that when they need to go and train, or if they need to go and fight the nation’s wars, that back on the home front, which is Installation Management Command, we’re taking care of their families.”
In her role, McCullough manages a staff that provides oversight of 11 garrisons in Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, South Korea and the Kwajalein Atoll that collectively support a population of nearly 300,000.
While she now oversees a smaller population than in her previous role as director of IMCOM-Readiness at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, McCullough said IMCOM-Pacific presents other challenges due to its large area of responsibility and America's posture in the Pacific.
“It’s not that it’s harder, it’s more complicated,” she said of the position. “The breadth and depth of the portfolio across a vast amount of space and time does make it more complicated to coordinate with and across the other garrisons.”
McCullough said she looks forward to learning more about the unique missions at each garrison as well as gaining a better understanding of their host-nation partnerships and environmental stewardship programs.
She also plans to focus on infrastructure and ensure installations are appropriately postured using available resources to support the U.S. Army Pacific mission.
To build talent, McCullough encourages garrisons to offer workforce development options so employees can broaden their knowledge on how other garrisons work.
“We can do better at that by providing opportunities for our employees to do developmental assignments at other locations and then come back,” she said, “so that they can share what they’ve learned, which allows for our garrison teams to remain fresh.”
When asked what she expects from her diverse team of professionals, McCullough said she would hope to see employees enthusiastic about their jobs and embracing the service culture.
“I like to say that you can hire skillsets all the time, but you can’t hire passion,” she said. “As long as folks are passionate about what they do in support of Soldiers and families, and most especially the mission, then I am extremely happy.”
While at Camp Zama, she said she saw many employees who seemed to love what they were doing and she was excited to hear of many upcoming projects that may further enhance the quality of life here.
“I’m really proud of the team here,” she said. “And I’m looking forward to coming back and seeing how things have improved based on the projects that they have spoken to me about.”
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