Photo By Stephen Warns | Lt. Col. Brian Pilch, the DES for USAG Japan, asks Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, IMCOM...... read more read more
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – The first Directors of Emergency Services Workshop, held Aug. 21-25 at Headquarters, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, was an invaluable experience, Col. Jon Doyle said.
Approximately 90 protection professionals gathered at the workshop to learn and share best practices on how to provide and integrate base operations services across the U.S. Army garrisons with the intent to effectively lead, manage and plan emergency services with available resources that are aligned with IMCOM’s core competencies in order to enable readiness for a globally responsive Army.
“We’ve done small DES courses for new individuals, but we’ve never done a workshop like this, where we gathered the SMEs in the room and brought up issues in a concise forum,” said Doyle, the director of the Provost Marshal/Protection Directorate. “I’m hoping the DES directors will take back that they are heard and know that they have an advocate at the headquarters level willing to take on the hard issues that are cutting across the enterprise.”
Josh Solomon, PM/P law enforcement branch chief, said the event was a great place to network.
“Every installation is unique, and every Army command they are situated with bring a unique set of problems,” Solomon said. “We gained a better understanding of their problems, and they were able to see how they are tied in to the (Commanding General’s) annual command guidance.
Doyle and Solomon praised IMCOM Commanding General Lt. Gen. Omar Jones’ willingness to resource the workshop and tackle hard questions and issues facing the garrisons. The DES workshop will be an annual event every fourth quarter, Doyle said.
“For him to give clear guidance, directly from him, down to the directors at the garrison level so they know exactly how he’s thinking, what he’s thinking, is something they don’t get,” Doyle said. “They always get an interpretation through staffs. There was no ambiguity of what he said. IT was clear, concise ‘This is how I think.’
“The CG’s No. 1 priority is people, and everything we do in the protection portfolio is about people. It’s about people who live, work, play or visit on our installations. You don’t have an installation unless it’s protected.”
The timing of the workshop couldn’t have been better for Lt. Col. Megan Williams, the 720th MP Battalion Commander and the Installation Provost Marshal for Fort Cavazos, Texas. Williams assumed her roles earlier this summer.
“There has been some turnover in our brigade. At Fort Cavazos, we have a brigade commander who is the DES, and the battalion commander who is the provost marshal for the installation,” Williams said. “Being able to be here and get the headquarters’ perspective of where we need to be going, the exposure to the IMCOM campaign plan, all of this at the beginning of our tenures is very good to reinforce where we need to launch and grow from an initial point. It’s also a good waypoint for us to make sure we’re going where we need to go.”
Lt. Col. Brian Pilch, the DES for USAG Japan, had one just word for DES directors interested in attending the workshop.
“Go,” he said. “You create contacts, and those contacts can help you reach solutions to problems you might have on your installations.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2023 10:17 |
| Story ID: | 452434 |
| Location: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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