Garrison leaders convene in San Antonio for annual conference, honor IMCOM’s best

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – More than 200 leaders from across 104 U.S. Army garrisons worldwide gathered in San Antonio June 4-6 for the annual Installation Management Command Garrison Command Team Conference.

The conference, hosted by IMCOM Commanding General Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, gave the leaders a chance to share best practices and ideas on topics ranging from Soldier and Family Services, housing and barracks, to talent acquisition and retention.

Guest speakers such as Sgt. Maj. of the Army (R) Daniel Dailey and Col. (R) Christopher Plamp added additional insight into the Association of the United States Army and the United Services Organization, respectively.

Jones and IMCOM Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Copeland began the conference honoring the IMCOM Stalwart Award winners for FY23, best garrisons from each of IMCOM’s five directorates, the U.S. Army Materiel Command Garrison Exceptional Organization Safety Award, and the Wardell B. Turner Award that honors IMCOM’s best Directorate of Emergency Services Organization.

Stalwart Award

The Stalwart Award was approved by the Secretary of the Army in 2003 to recognize IMCOM individuals who have demonstrated the highest standards of performance and significantly contributed to the command's success and responsibilities.

“Stalwart Award winners are IMCOM’s very best,” Jones said. “These professionals represent our commitment to finding innovative solutions and solving our most challenging problems in taking care of the Army’s Home. We look forward to harnessing these winners’ experiences and ideas to further our ability to invest in our IMCOM workforce and ensure the highest Quality of Life for the Army’s Soldiers, Families, and Civilians.”

Jones recognized 15 winners from IMCOM’s five directorates, headquarters, and Army Environmental Command, a subordinate command under IMCOM.

The winners from ID-Europe were George Brown III, Administrations and Operations Chief for USAG Rheinland-Pfalz’s Department of Public Works; Arcelio Alleyne, Army Community Service Financial Readiness Program Manager at USAG Wiesbaden; Collin Guy, IMCOM-Europe Director Garrison S6; Ekaterina Piotrowski, Directorate of Public Works program analyst at USAG-Bavaria; and Andreas Kreuzer, public affairs specialist at USAG-Bavaria.

Ed Kosbab, talent acquisition manager at USAG Alaska, was the ID-Pacific winner; Cody Bratton, supervisory electronics technician at Fort Johnson, and Steven Hinton, USAG Fort Riley housing division chief, were the ID-Readiness winners.

Winners from ID-Sustainment include Adrianne McLarahmore, management and program analyst as Detroit Arsenal; Amy Gopel, substance abuse program manager and employee assistance coordinator at Picatinny Arsenal; Kristen Pellaton, CYS coordinator at Watervliet Arsenal; and Phillip Trued Jr., Anniston Army Depot chief of staff.

Cynthia Richards, personnel automated systems chief and supervisory human resources specialist at Fort Novosel was the ID-Training winner; Randy Cerar, operations, plans and programs division chief was the U.S. Army Environmental Command winner; and Sarah Nelson, operations specialist, was the winner from IMCOM Headquarters.

Best garrisons

IMCOM’s organizational motto is “We Are The Army’s Home,” and garrisons are responsible for providing services and infrastructure to enhance the quality of life for Soldiers, Families, and Civilians.

The competition is IMCOM’s counterpart to the Office of the Secretary of Defense Commander-in-Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence, which honors the efforts of all the sister services and the Defense Logistics Agency’s support needed to maintain quality of life.

All directorates submitted nominations to HQ IMCOM, where the packages were reviewed and scored by subject matter experts in 17 functional areas ranging from mission support, real property management, fiscal stewardship, and service culture.

Fort Cavazos (ID-Readiness) won first place; USAG Daegu (IMCOM-Pacific) was second; Fort Leonard Wood (ID-Training) was third; Detroit Arsenal (ID-Sustainment) was fourth; and Rheinland-Pfalz (ID-Europe) was fifth.

“All the hard work the team is doing to take care of Soldiers, Families, and Civilians at Fort Cavazos is evident, and it’s not surprising we won,” said Col. Lakicia Stokes, Fort Cavazos garrison commander.

Exceptional Organization Safety Award

USAG Fort Riley showed outstanding achievement in administration of the Safety and Occupational Health (SOH) Program from October 2022 to September 2023.

The command and SOH team progressed beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to protect against hazards, which is a testament to Fort Riley and IMCOM’s commitment to a safe working and living environment for Soldiers, Families, and Civilians.

Col. Michael Foote, Fort Riley garrison commander, accepted the award on behalf of Fort Riley.

Wardell B. Turner Award

Fort Novosel was honored for having the best Directorate of Emergency Services organization within IMCOM and recognizing the hard work IMCOM’s DES organizations do daily to protect the Army’s home.

The award is named in honor or Sgt. Maj. Wardell B. Turner, who served in several military units before he died in 2014 during Operation Enduring Freedom. At the time of his death, Sgt. Maj. Turner was assigned to the DES as the Provost Sergeant Major for Headquarters and Headquarters Company USAG Fort Drum.

Marcel Dumais, Fort Novosel DES deputy director, and Directorate of Public Safety Sgt. Maj. John Russell accepted the award.