ID-WH leaders celebrate Fort Stewart achievements and look toward future

FORT STEWART, Ga. – U.S. Army Installation Management Command Directorate – Western Hemisphere command team recognized individual and organizational excellence Feb. 18-19 during their visit to Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield.

Patrick Appelman, ID-WH director, and Command Sgt. Maj. Danny Castleberry, ID-WH senior enlisted advisor, presented the installation with its plaque for 2nd place overall in the 2024 IMCOM Best Garrison Competition, which names the top 5 installations out of 104 total.

“I call this the ‘people’ award and it’s because of the hard-working people,” Castleberry said. “It’s all the employees and directorates, it’s all your Soldiers and families, and everybody that enters the gates of Fort Stewart.”

The award was originally supposed to be presented at the annual Installation Management Command Garrison Command Team Conference in May 2025, but it was canceled due to travel restrictions. Leadership decided to delay the presentation until October 2025, but that was also canceled due to the government shutdown.

Appelman and Castleberry also joined installation and 3rd Infantry Division leaders for an Installation Planning Board. The IPB is an annual meeting between IMCOM and senior leaders to form an agreement on priorities of efforts for the upcoming year.

Appelman noted before the meeting people kept telling him that things are different since last year and the planning efforts were modified.

“My comment to all of you would be, if there wasn’t a lot of change and this wasn’t a fluid document, then we wouldn’t be doing it right,” Appelman said.

After the IPB, Appelman and Castleberry experienced an Energy Resilience Readiness Exercise put on by the installation in preparation for its upcoming Black Start Exercise, a congressionally mandated test of the installations ability to operate without power in an emergency. The BSE will take place the first week of April.

Appelman said Fort Stewart’s preparation was extremely detailed and he believes the garrison will be successful because of its planning efforts.

During their visit, they also attended the quarterly Garrison Award Ceremony where they helped recognize over 50 awardees with over 780 years of service.

“There is nothing better than getting to recognize everybody that is a part of this great garrison team,” Castleberry said. “You guys have a reputation, and it is a great reputation. All the way from Western Hemisphere Command, XVIII Airborne Corps, and your Senior Command. It reflects in everything that you do.”