Depot signs partnerships

Photo By Mark Cleghorn | Wayne Livingston, general manager for the Oxford Water Works and Sewer Board, and Col. Joel Warhurst, commander of Anniston Army Depot, sign partnership agreements Sept. 13, 2018, at the Oxford Civic Center. The partnership is one of five agreements Warhurst signed that day as part of the Army Community Partnership program.  

AL, UNITED STATES

09.20.2018

Story by Jennifer Bacchus 

Anniston Army Depot         

ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Depot Commander Col. Joel Warhurst signed five agreements signifying the installation’s continued relationship with local municipalities and educational institutions Sept. 13 at the Oxford Civic Center.

The community partners include Gadsden State Community College, Jacksonville State University, the city of Jacksonville, Anniston Water Works, and Oxford Water Works and Sewer Board.

“Anniston Army Depot has been a leader in partnerships for many years,” said Warhurst. “We have always been at the cutting edge of looking for ways to do business more efficiently and effectively.”

The agreements with GSCC and JSU ensure internship opportunities for students to earn college credit toward graduation requirements.

The partnership between ANAD and the city of Jacksonville seemed tailor made. ANAD requires additional fill dirt each year in support of the Anniston Munitions Center’s operations. Jacksonville plans to expand its landfill and has additional dirt it needs to move.

The Anniston Water Works agreement provides for periodic surveillance and inspection support, sharing of specialty equipment and parts for repairs, emergency repair services in the event of a water system malfunction and joint operational certification training.

Similarly, the Oxford Water Works and Sewer Board partnership provides for assistance in the event of an emergency.

If Anniston is unable to provide the installation with water, Oxford would serve as a back-up provider, enabling the depot to continue its mission.

Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management representatives facilitated a series of four meetings over six months that brought together installation and community stakeholders to identify partnerships that leverage the strengths of federal, state and local governments to increase efficiencies and produce cost savings.

The Army Community Partnership program has proven to be successful in producing a wide-range of mutually-beneficial partnerships with communities across the country.

“The Army has a long history of working together in community partnerships with federal, state and local governments,” said John Broughton of SIA Solutions, a contractor working for the Department of the Army’s Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management.

Partnerships ultimately provide America’s fighting forces with the best equipment possible with which to accomplish their assigned missions.

Warhurst said he looks forward to being able to expand relationships with the surrounding communities. Additional partnerships with the communities continue to be discussed.

• Date Taken: 09.20.2018
• Date Posted: 09.20.2018 11:29
• Story ID: 293694
• Location: AL, US