FORT STEWART, Ga. – Officials with the Army’s Forces Command and Installation Management Commands, as well as division and garrison commanders from five installations across the nation, amassed on Fort Stewart, Ga., May 16, to attend the second of three slated joint FORSCOM and IMCOM Installation Management Mini-Rehearsal of Concept Drills.
The daylong conference, hosted by Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, FORSCOM deputy commanding general, and Lt. Gen. Mike Ferriter, IMCOM commander and assistant chief of staff for installation management, was held to propagate dialogue among the senior commanders, including Maj. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general and Col. Kevin W. Milton, Fort Stewart garrison commander, focusing on assessing the impacts of and developing mitigating strategies for planned installation management resource reductions.
Proposed IMCOM funding cuts mandated by the Department of the Army for the current and future fiscal years were examined across five service categories, including public works, installation logistics, soldier and family programs, training and operation support, and safety and security.
Bill Hamilton, chief G1 strategic integration division, and one of the drills’ facilitators, said the goal of holding the ROC drills is to define a joint action plan that will help guide FORSCOM and IMCOM commands through the resource reductions while ensuring future force readiness and soldier and family quality of life.
“A few years ago we really did have the ability for everybody to have their authorities … their equities and their part of the pie,” said Ferriter. “Today it is about the … responsibilities that we have to take care of our soldiers [and families] and train for war—it’s not to protect equities but to understand where we’re going together and then move out together on this.”
Hamilton said the drills collectively provide commanders with a common operational picture of the friction points and the gaps and seams caused by the proposed installation reductions and they provide a forum for the commanders to inform FORSCOM and IMCOM leaders how they plan to mitigate the cuts in ways that are tailored to their unique missions and installation’s footprints.
Abrams highlighted the combined capabilities and operational requirements of both Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, and discussed the steps the Marne Division has taken to reprioritize installation resources funding and diverting troops to perform in installation support roles.
“This is just one step of where we’re headed over the course of the next couple of years,” said Bromberg. “We still have many, many decisions in terms of the budget to come, and many, many decisions in terms of total Army analysis that will come out in the coming weeks and months. Our intent is to put everything on the table.”
The third and final ROC drill is slated for June 26 at Fort Hood, Texas.