28 ARMY n April 2010

By LTG Rick Lynch

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e are currently engaged in the longest war sus-tained by an all-volunteer force in our nation’s

history, and the Army is on the move with the draw-down in Iraq, the increased support to Afghani-

stan, global repositioning of the forces, and imple-mentation of the last round of base realignments and closures.

Our nation is in an era of persistent conflict, placingtremendous stress on the force. Coupled with constrainedfinancial resources, this has resulted in one of the most

challenging and dynamic timesfor Installation Management Com-mand (IMCOM). Never beforehave the services of IMCOMbeen so critical to the well-beingand readiness of the force. Busi-ness as usual simply will notwork; the times call for a newapproach. This new approachdemands agile, aggressive man-agement by those of us in the in-stallation community. Our sol-diers and families need us nowmore than ever before, and IM-COM must be positioned to sus-tain, support and defend whilemanaging many priorities forthe Army enterprise.

The installation managementcommunity is stepping up tothis challenge with unprece-dented determination, energyand pride. Members of both IM-

COM and the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for In-stallation Management are doing their part to implement acost culture that will result in superior support to soldiersand families that is predictable, standardized and cost-ef-fective across the installation community enterprise.

Garrison commanders—and IMCOM personnel at alllevels—are adopting a cost-conscious business model togenerate savings at the local level. No action is too small tohelp save the command money, and everyone has been

April 2010 n ARMY 29

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asked to contribute to this effort. Our fellow soldiers, families, civil-

ians, members of Congress and theAmerican people are counting on usto be true stewards of the taxpayers’dollars. We must ensure that everypenny we spend supports our mission and that no wasteoccurs on our watch. Garrison commanders are sharingbest practices and success stories for saving money onwww.garrisoncommand.com, a collaborative tool for thegarrison commander community.

We know that our soldiers are thefinest warriors in the world—and thatour Army will not break because ofthem—but we must also recognizethat our Army might break because ofthe stress Army families are under.There are many services that IMCOMprovides to our families that are espe-cially important during extensive de-ployments. The capstone of these ser-vices is the Army Family Covenant—our promise to our soldiers andfamily members that we will providea high quality of life commensurate

with their sacrifice and service. The Army Family Cove-nant is nonnegotiable and is fully funded by the Army.

Other services that will continue to be fully funded inthis challenging economic environment include life, healthand safety programs, and those services that prepare oursoldiers and their families for deployment in support ofArmy force generation (ARFORGEN). The ARFORGENmodel establishes a standard, predictable tempo forpreparing units for combat and affords soldiers and fami-lies the comfort of a timetable for deployment.

The one constant in our reality is that change is takingplace faster than ever before. The task of the installationmanagement community is to remain as relevant to Armyreadiness as possible. We are here to provide “ArmyStrong” installations in support of senior commanders and

care for soldiers, families and civiliansat the level they so rightly deserve.

At the end of March, we unveiledthe Installation Management cam-paign plan, which provides priorityand direction across the 2012–17 pro-gram objective memorandum cycle.The campaign plan is organized intosix focus areas, or lines of effort, andthe keys to success in each.

Soldier, Family and CivilianReadiness

We will promote a deployable mind-set across the enterprise—this appliesto the entire Army family, includingsoldiers, family members and civil-ians. Our soldiers must be mentallyand physically ready at the right time.

Our facilities and systems must be ready to support de-ployment at the right time.

To accomplish this mission and support senior comman-ders, we will increase soldier resiliency through the imple-mentation of the comprehensive soldier fitness program;provide responsive services that meet ARFORGEN re-quirements; provide effective family readiness groups andrear detachments; and support the transformation of theoperational and generating forces.

30 ARMY n April 2010

LTG Rick Lynch is commander of Installation ManagementCommand and Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Man-agement.

Above, firefighters check the conditionof an “injured” soldier during a force

protection exercise at Fort Rucker,Ala., in December 2009. Right, PVT

Ricardo Samudio returns a volleyduring a sitting-volleyball tournament

at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. PVTSamudio lost his right leg below the

knee in December 2008 when agrenade hit the vehicle in which he

was riding in Baghdad.

Participants at theFamily Fun Fair

held at Fort Meade,Md., enjoy a

spinning ride. Theevent was

sponsored by theDirectorate of

Family and Morale,Welfare andRecreation.

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Specifically, the ARFORGEN model advances the goal ofgrowing and transforming the Army and ensuring soldierand unit readiness. IMCOM will continue to optimize andstandardize installation processes and procedures to sup-port ARFORGEN’s success, enabling the Army to prevailin current conflicts while simultaneously preparing for thenext. We will provide support that is consistent and effec-tive throughout the ARFORGEN cycle; our support for thereset phase will focus on rebuilding readiness for the fu-ture. Our programs will be well-designed and executed,helping to build an Army community composed of re-silient, well-balanced soldiers, families and civilians.

To effectively support our combat-readiness mission, allfacets of the IMCOM organization will work in close coor-dination with the Army command/core enterprise com-manders and other senior commanders. In addition, wewill collaborate with our services and infrastructure coreenterprise partners to share ideas and best practices thatcontribute to more efficient and effective services, infra-structure and operational support of combatant comman-ders based on ARFORGEN requirements.

Soldier, Family and Civilian Well-BeingOur Army families are under tremendous strain, and

their well-being is one of the Army’s primary concerns.IMCOM is committed to providing them with the qualityof life that they deserve in return for their invaluable ser-vice and selfless sacrifice on behalf of our grateful nation.

To keep our promise to the Army family, we will stan-dardize and fund existing family programs and services;provide facilities and programs that support transition,safety, recreation, travel and single soldiers; enhance com-munity outreach and recommit to the Army CommunityCovenant; meet the needs of soldiers, families and civiliansthroughout the entire deployment cycle; and ensure re-siliency and balance in mind, body and spirit.

We recognize that the Army’s Gold Star families’tragedy never stops. We will never forget the ones theyhold dear, our nation’s brave sons and daughters whomade the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and for thefreedom of others far from our shores. We are committedto supporting these precious families as they deal withtheir loss. We are equally determined to provide the long-

term support and care they needthrough survivor outreach programs.

Leader and WorkforceDevelopment

Our soldiers and families are notthe only members of the Army familyexperiencing extreme stress. IMCOMhas the largest Department of theArmy civilian workforce in the world.To succeed in the challenging daysahead, we will invest in our talentedcivilians who have invested their timeand talents in IMCOM.

We will develop our workforce to

32 ARMY n April 2010

West Point, firstoccupied in 1778,

is the oldestcontinuously

garrisoned militarypost in the UnitedStates as well asthe home of the

U.S. MilitaryAcademy.

Patrons enjoysome downtime in

the quiet andcomfort of the R.F.

Sink Library onFort Campbell, Ky.

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build multiskilled, adaptable leadersand establish clear career paths fortheir future in IMCOM. We will useeffective leadership, mentoring andknowledge management to developand maintain effective teams and anenvironment of open communicationwith our workforce and our partnersin the Army community.

Installation ReadinessInstallation readiness translates into the ability to pro-

vide a growing and transforming Army with the infra-structure and support services it needs to remain a highlyeffective, expeditionary and campaign-quality force. Wemust identify redundant programs and select the best,while reducing or eliminating the others—without sacrific-ing support to Army families.

For too long, the Army has focused on mission prioritieswithout giving full consideration to cost. New programshave been developed without properly utilizing existingprograms that do the same job. This must stop.

Garrison commanders must take a hard look at cuttingprograms that are redundant or simply not relevant. Weneed to “connect the dots” of all our programs to eliminatethe unnecessary ones.

Energy and SustainabilityAt the same time that we are focused on making our dol-

lars go further, we must also pursue sustainability as a ma-jor pillar of installation readiness. Today the interdepen-dencies among mission, energy security, environmentalstewardship and community relations have never beenmore apparent. IMCOM is in a strong position to developand manage installations that fully reflect this new frameof reference and bring into balance seemingly incompatibleconcepts.

Senior commanders and garrison commanders need torecognize the impact of savings generated through energyefficiency—savings that can be used elsewhere in the com-munities they manage. IMCOM will build on the workwe’ve already begun, work that capitalizes on one of thegreatest assets at our disposal—land—in order to advancerenewable energy sources such as wind, solar and geother-mal power. An equally important objective to address is in-stallation dependency on the grid for electric power.

To meet these and other challenges, we will continue toexecute programs that recognize energy as a strategic re-source and address the priorities of the Army strategy forinstallations, the Army energy security implementationstrategy and other guidance. It takes a significant amountof energy to sustain our installations, and we have both theopportunity and obligation to address installation energy.

SafetyIMCOM will proactively and aggressively ensure safe,

secure installations for soldiers, families and civilians bymaking safety everyone’s responsibility. Installations musthave safety standards, and we will work with garrisoncommanders to identify and assess risks. Every garrisonmust have updated safety plans, and every leaderthroughout the command must have a “safety officer”mind-set.

The large majority of accidents and fatalities affectingthe Army family occur off-duty and away from direct lead-ership. Therefore, specific risk-reduction measures imple-mented under the campaign plan will focus on compre-hensive suicide prevention and privately owned vehiclesafety programs, including motorcycle safety.

We are firmly committed to strengthening a culture ofsafety awareness that pervades our daily operations andguides our actions in all activities. Creating a culture ofsafety and sustainability and a healthy work environmentis critical to our success as a command and a family—anArmy family.

We have a clear path forward with the new InstallationManagement campaign plan, and I look forward to imple-menting the plan across the command in the months ahead.As we all know, however, change is constant. We will de-velop new campaign plans to stay current and relevant inthese challenging times. One thing that won’t change is IM-COM’s commitment to the Army family. M

34 ARMY n April 2010

Youth from the Detroit, Mich., ArsenalMiddle School and Teen Program

volunteer for Earthworks, separating soilfor organic composting used in the

Earthworks community garden.

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