FORT NOVOSEL, Ala. --William Kidd, the director of the Installation Management Command-Training, returned home to visit Fort Novosel on March 13 during one of his 17 installation visits.
Kidd spent many years of his civilian career at the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence as the Deputy to the Commanding General before assuming his current role at Joint Base Langley- Eustis, Virgina.
During his site visit, Kidd took time to visit with soldiers at Camp Bull Simons and Camp Rudder at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, met with Fort Novosel and USAACE command teams, and hosted a garrison-wide employee town hall on March 15. According to Kidd, the welcoming atmosphere began right at the gate.
“When you pull up and immediately, they say, “welcome home”, boy, they are not kidding,” said Kidd. “I am just so glad to be here with you all today.”
Kidd went on to discuss the importance of the work on Fort Novosel and how that was evidenced during the pandemic.
“You saw a lot on the news of people teleworking and going to meetings on Teams, but that wasn’t the life we were living here on Fort Novosel,” said Kidd. “Here, you came to work because we had to fly aircraft, people were in those aircraft, and we had to keep serving them because it mattered. We could not defend the nation without those pilots being trained. We were an important part of that, so we just had to live with it, and we did.”
Kidd recalled a time when he suddenly lost an integral member of his team while working at Fort Novosel. “He was a middle-aged man in good physical health. We sat in that meeting on a Thursday and on Tuesday, he was gone.” Kidd said, encouraging the Fort Novosel garrison team to show appreciation for one another every chance that they get.
“The horror for me was that I didn’t take the time, before he was gone, to thank him because I thought we had another day. I thought I would have a chance at the end of this to give him a thank you or a coin for his hard work that he was doing in challenging in circumstances, but I didn’t take that chance,” said Kidd, “So for you as leaders, regardless of what you do here, take the time to thank those around you. Thank the people that work with you and work for you and thank them for their service, because you may not get another day to do that.”
Kidd awarded coins with gratitude to members of the Fort Novosel garrison that have served beyond expectations in their workplace including the following: Jason Mann (PAO), Karen Goldsmith (DFMWR), Alana Klosky (DPW), Christina Manthie (OSJA), and Torlina Wofford (DHR).
After the coin ceremony and words of encouragement, a member of the garrison team asked what advice Kidd would offer to someone just starting their career in government.
“It will be a journey with many twists and turns, what you start out doing in government service will probably not be where you end up,” replied Kidd. “You need to be flexible and adaptable enough that you can accept and be prepared for every opportunity as they come. Some say to plan five years ahead but in this field it’s better to look 20-30 years down the road and take the steps and make the decisions to get you there.”
Kidd concluded with advice for everyone in the room. “Take every opportunity, make the moves that might seem scary, and you will find the work that you are meant to do.”
Social Sharing