Photo By Porsha Auzenne | From left: Johnny Bevers, Fort Johnson deputy garrison commander, Joshua Corley,...... read more read more
FORT JOHNSON, La. — U.S. Army Installation Management Command Director-Readiness Patrick Appelman visited Fort Johnson April 29-May 2. The tour was part of an initiative to receive Installation Planning Board briefings from senior commanders and garrison teams, explore garrison facilities and lead roundtable discussions with garrison directors.
Fort Johnson leadership focused on a multitude of improvements on the installation. These initiatives included education opportunities, living conditions, installation energy and water resilience and overall quality of life for Soldiers, Families and the workforce.
Appelman praised Fort Johnson’s emphasis on training. He especially liked Forging New Leaders, a ten-month leader development course designed to enhance leadership skills in Soldiers, spouses and civilians.
“The number of people participating in the program is great,” Appelman said. “The fact that Forging New Leaders has had a 47% success rate on getting lower graded people who take the course promoted is proof of its success.”
Appelman mentioned the strong leaders, both up and down the chain at Fort Johnson, as further proof of the program’s productivity.
Following in line with putting people first, Fort Johnson has made concerted efforts to focus on quality of life by improving living conditions for Soldiers and Families in installation housing and barracks. This was a crucial focus of Appelman’s visit.
“Quality of life goes up if your housing and barracks are in great shape, but it goes beyond that,” Appelman said. “Our Soldiers have an important and tough mission that takes them away from their home and Families a lot. It’s essential we as the garrison workforce give them well maintained, safe and comfortable housing free from any worries on their end. This same concept applies to quality of life in the barracks — when our Soldiers aren’t training, they need to be in a healthy environment.”
Appelman visited with Fort Johnson’s Directorate of Public Works staff and was thrilled to see the hard work done by the DPW team in the area energy savings.
“From a direct standpoint, if you replace someone’s air conditioning or heating system with an upgraded one that uses less energy, that’s a better performing system,” Appelman said. “These energy upgrades improve well-being to Soldiers and their Families by giving them new equipment and technology, ultimately improving quality of life.”
Appelman also specified the indirect benefits of energy saving efforts, explaining how such projects save money.
“The second largest bill an installation has to pay is utility costs, with millions of dollars a month being spent,” Appelman said. “So when you make a 5% or 10% savings in energy, that’s a significant amount of money. These funds then go back into essentials like quality of life programs and facility upgrades.”
He said these energy saving techniques also play a crucial role in helping the environment and preserving the planet.
Noting these and the many improvements Fort Johnson has made in the last five to ten years, Appelman said he was extremely pleased with Fort Johnson’s quality of life efforts, whether the focus was projects or people. From installation leadership down to the workforce, Appelman said he could see the pride the Fort Johnson community has in supporting both the Army and nation.
“I was extremely impressed with everyone I’ve talked to and how dedicated they are. They’re not just doing their jobs — they’re making things better,” Appelman said.
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2024 10:21 |
| Story ID: | 470638 |
| Location: | FORT JOHNSON, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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