PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. - Lt. Gen. Omar J. Jones, IV, U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Commanding General delivered an address to more than 30 garrison commanders, managers, command sergeants major, and more than 20 command and staff officials during the opening day of the Spring Garrison Leader Forum held at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
The forum, hosted by Davis D. Tindoll, Jr., Director, IMCOM Sustainment Directorate, and Command Sgt. Maj. Tamisha Love, the senior enlisted Soldier of the organization, brought together key leaders from more than 20 U.S. Army installations within the Directorate, and served to synchronize new garrison commanders and command sergeants major, as well as managers at the Terminals, Depots, Activities, Arsenals, and Plants (TDAAPs).
“Supporting the senior commanders is what we are all about,” Jones said via a brief broadcast to the room full of Army leaders, as he discussed organizational priorities.
Garrison commanders work closely with the senior commander's staff to take all but the most critical installation decisions and its management, off the senior commander's plate, while keeping them fully informed.
“We have to make sure that our senior commanders understand there is no stronger advocate for senior commander authority than the IMCOM team,” the general continued as he described how these leaders should support their installation’s senior leadership, to effectively carry out the mission.
IMCOM handles the day-to-day operations of 104 U.S. Army installations around the globe. Army installations are essentially communities that provide many of the same types of services expected from any small city. IMCOM provides Soldier and Family Services, manages the regular Army's infrastructure, and supports warfighter readiness and deployability. Fire, police, housing, and childcare are just some of the things IMCOM does in Army communities every day.
In November 2016, IMCOM established three functionally aligned directorates, co-located with Forces Command (IMCOM-Readiness), Training and Doctrine Command (IMCOM-Training), and Army Material Command (IMCOM Sustainment).
The directorates aim to become more efficient and improve mission command through unity of purpose, a smaller number of garrisons to manage, similar demographics of communities, and solve functional challenges for garrison commanders, coordinate IMCOM headquarters support, and drive/assess garrison execution of service delivery.
“We support the resources approved by the Secretary of the Army,” Jones said. “Our job is to support the senior commanders,” Jones said as he referenced Army Regulation 600-20: Army Command Policy which defines roles and responsibilities of a senior commander.
“We are here to help,” the general expressed to each installation’s decision makers. “We are here to take workflow off the mission side, so they (the senior commanders) do not have to worry about base operations services, infrastructure prioritization, etc. We are going to do that for them.”
Picatinny was selected to anchor the three-day leader forum, designed to provide focused discussions and training among leadership, staff and garrison commanders, senior enlisted advisors, as well as other personnel. The objective is to dissect practices, policies, and procedures common to their domains and allow them to share concerns in support of service delivery and readiness goals, according to organizers.
“There’s a lot of things that you do alike, more than you realize, but there are some things that you do differently,” Tindoll said to the room full of leaders who have similar missions at their respective installations. “The bottom line is the garrison commander gets a pot of money. You must decide what you do with that pot of money. The senior commander must approve it. You have to decide how you want to break it down according to policy.”
Upon conclusion of morning discussions and a working lunch, the group traveled to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Watch Center in Brooklyn, New York, where they received a brief on emergency preparedness. They then relocated to FEMA headquarters at the World Trade Center in Manhattan for an additional update.
Picatinny Arsenal was recently selected as the “best garrison” within the IMCOM ID-Sustainment, and fifth overall worldwide within IMCOM, a recognition the northern New Jersey military installation had not previously achieved.
The Picatinny Arsenal garrison supports mission partners that use unique laboratories, special facilities, and various performance measures to evaluate prototype designs, thus reducing development cycle time. The scope of work at Picatinny Arsenal includes improvised explosive device (IED) defeat technologies, drones, small, medium, and large caliber conventional ammunition, precision-guided munitions, mortars, fire control systems, small-arms weapon systems, howitzers, gunner protection armor, warheads, fuzes, and insensitive munitions.
Picatinny Arsenal is one of the top three employers in Morris County, New Jersey, according to the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation, and supports the Army priorities of people, readiness, and modernization. The installation’s capabilities are unique and vital to the nation, as the workforce leads the advance of armament technologies and engineering innovation for the U.S. military.
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