Army Reserve Conducts Change of Command Ceremony

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES

08.24.2012

Courtesy Story

76th Operational Response Command

FORT DOUGLAS, Utah – On Saturday, Aug. 25, the senior female Commander in the Army Reserve currently serving as a two-star general, Maj. Gen. Mari K. Eder will conduct a Change of Command Ceremony at 11:00 a.m, Soldier’s Circle Parade Field, Fort Douglas, Utah, 84113.

Eder joined the Army in 1977, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Women's Army Corps in 1977. Her first assignment was as Training Officer, Company E, 1st Battalion, Basic Training Brigade, Fort McClellan, Ala.

“In 1977 I came into the Army because I wanted to have a major challenge, I did not want something that would be easy,” said Eder. “I wanted to test myself, and I wanted to see just where I could go.”

“1977 was just after Vietnam, it was the beginning of the years of the ‘Hollow Army’,” said Eder. “There were problems of drugs, problems of leadership, problems that became a growing hollow force,” said Eder.

“That army was very different from the Army where we are today,” said Eder.

Since then, she's served at every level of command, with more than 35 years in uniform. "She is an inspiration to all the soldiers in her command. Her legacy of leadership will last long after Maj. Gen. Eder has retired,” said Col. Sanford Artman, Deputy Commanding Officer, Joint and Special Troops Support Command.

Eder was a great influence on Lt. Col. David Spess, 450th Civil Affairs, Branch Chiefs career and inspiration, according to Spess.

“She (Eder) is a true warrior and has shown me that not everybody was meant to kick in doors and shoot bad guys in the face,” said Spess in an email to Eder.

“She showed me, not told me but actually showed me that real, positive leadership and honest selfless service to this nation can be rendered from an office or a Bradley Fighting Vehicle,” said Spess.

“I am eternally in her debt for the lessons you taught me by example and of course, for the opportunities that you made available to me,” said Spess.

Most recently, Eder served as commander of the Joint and Special Troops Support Command, or JSTSC, one of the most diverse commands in the Army Reserve. The command consists of more than 4,500 soldiers across all 50 states.

The mission of the JSTSC is to command and control the most varied and complex unit structure in the Army Reserve.

Eder’s mission statement for the JSTSC Command is to provide Command and Control and Operational support to the Legal Command, specialized Army Reserve Information Operation Units; and the Army Reserve Elements of Combatant Commands, DOD Agencies and Army Major Commands.

Eder’s tenure of Joint Special Troops Support Command (JSTSC) has been in a constant state of transition and grew from 1900 Soldiers when she was given command to nearly 5,000 Soldiers at the present time.

“When I was told I would command the Joint Special Troops Support Command (JSTSC), it was very small,” said Eder. “JSTSC had a great potential, but it did not start out with much.”

“The day I took command, the name changed from the 96th Readiness Command to JSTSC,” said Eder. “The announcement was made it would move from Fort Jackson to Salt Lake City, the switch turned on and they began to hire civilian personnel, and there were two people assigned to JSTSC,” said Eder. “The Deputy Commander who was already on the ground in Salt Lake City and me,” added Eder.

“The transformation then began with all of the units coming in. We had 18 wheelers roll down the road with boxes of files, and we closed out everything at Fort Jackson,” said Eder.

“We had Army Reserve Elements come into the unit and we did not have them all, so I asked, why not?” said Eder. “During that transformation time, this is what the force structure folks said at United States Army Reserve Command (USARC), some of them went to other units,” said Eder.

“I asked why they are not with us, if this is not the mission then tell me,” said Eder. “The other units that seemed to be with units because of physical locations,” said Eder of how she built the JSTSC command.

“I built the command, but I never thought of it. A lot of this work is tight wire, you do not look down,” said Eder. “It is fun as long as you do not look down and see where you are at,” said Eder.
“Some of the units were directed, some of the units I had to go to USARC and say this unit needs to be at JSTSC, and some units say ‘ we want to be over there with them’,” said Eder. The reason units wanted to be with JSTSC was because they were with another unit and did not support them correctly, according to Eder.

Some of the units that were directed to be with JSTSC had pushback, according to Eder.

“At least initially they resisted, until they began to see the value. Initially they pushback is why should we change something when it seems to work O.K., because you created this unit and gave it this mission,” said Eder. “Now let’s do it the way you are supposed to.”

During Eder’s tenure, units continued to be added to the USARJSTSC structure, many requesting to be affiliated with the JSTSC because of its growing reputation for excellence. Thus the unit’s new motto challenge and response came into existence: “Resistance is Futile.” The appropriate response is “You will be assimilated.”

“I also activated to theater level IO groups, there are two in the Guard and two in the Reserves,” said Eder. “With the joint elements, we also have Information Operations, the cyber in Space Missile Defense with U.S. Strategic Command and also with the Defense Information Systems Agency,” said Eder.
“It is still in so much tumultuous development it should not be with any one type of unit or another,” said Eder. “It is a great community, it is a true enterprise, it needs to be right where it is,” said Eder.

Implementing the transformation of Reserve Forces by enhancing joint concept development and by providing flexible ready forces and capabilities, all in support of the National Military Strategy, was also Eder’s future vision of the JSTSC command.

“The future of this command is extraordinarily important for the future of the Army Reserve,” said Eder. “We need to get to a point where we can manage it well,” added Eder.

“The inroads we have into the joint organizations are what can build opportunities for Army Reserve soldiers in the future to get joint tours, joint experience, joint credit, and joint schooling,” said Eder.

Eder’s vision of the JSTSC command was to empower and enable units to be ready to mobilize and deploy whenever and wherever needed, meeting and sustaining the Army Reserve standards of readiness.

“My vision for it all along is for this command to be the center for joint excellence in the Army Reserve,” said Eder. “I have spent more time in the joint community than anywhere else looking at how we better supports the combatant commander in the future,” added Eder.

Providing focused management for the joint force and our joint partners is the ultimate goal, according to Eder.
“I think that our future with our IMA population will probably come to this unit,” said Eder. “So we have that type of oversight for all of those joint positions,” added Eder.

“It is what is right for the Army to do long term,” said Eder. “I always asked myself, ‘Is it the right thing to do to put all of these units with JSTSC?’”, said Eder. “If I continue to believe it is the right thing to do, then I would continue to fight for it, but I was always open-minded to, tell me why it is not, tell me why it should be another way,” said Eder.

“Mostly what I got was responses that deal with ownership,” said Eder. “I own this; I want to keep owning it because it makes my command bigger,” said Eder when she received pushback from the losing commands.

“You have to get to the logic in a conversation to make the right choices for the Army Reserve,” said Eder.

“What has driven me is, ‘Is this the right thing to do?’” said Eder.
“This command was stood up at the beginning of transformation with a minimal staff, not even the basic positions you need to have filled to keep you out of trouble, like Equal Opportunity, safety, etc,” ,” said Eder.

“These staff positions have not been filled, so we have been working off of ADOS tours while building this command to the point where it is a tipping point where success becomes inevitable, and momentum is such that it must keep going forward,” said Eder. “JSTSC will succeed in spite of these challenges, because the people see the future, they see the vision, and it will take off like you would not believe,” said Eder.

The unit’s future is bright with the organization well on its way to becoming the Army Reserve center for joint training, education, and experiences in the Army Reserve. Additional units are expected to join the JSTSC in the near future and be assimilated into its unique culture.

Previous to Eder’s JSTSC Command she served as the Deputy Chief of Army Reserve. In this role, Eder managed policy, plans, strategy and congressional budgets for the United States Army Reserve.

This encompassed more than 1,200 employees and more than 206,000 soldiers in the Selected Reserve and their families. Eder once again took the challenge of shaping the Army Reserve and forging a strategic vision for years to come.

“I had already been in the Pentagon several years when Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, the United States Army Reserve Commander at the time, selected me to be his deputy,” said Eder.

“I was the Deputy Chief of Public Affairs and I had experience on how things work as part of the Army Reserve, and how the Army Reserve worked as part of all the Reserve components,” said Eder on why she was picked as the Deputy Chief of Army Reserve.

Having oversight of a number of functions that were on the Army Reserve staff was one of her most rewarding responsibilities, according to Eder.

“I had oversight for the entire communications enterprise of the Army Reserve that included the legislative piece, Public Affairs piece, family programs, and the Ambassadors,” said Eder.
Additionally she had oversight of the recruiting and recruiting marketing communications, according to Eder.

“If you have that type of enterprise oversight, it is not very easy, but it is easier to coordinate thematic, messaging, and the strategy to communicate identity with the Army Reserve,” said Eder. “It is who we are and where we are going,” she added.
Eder was the key factor in creating realistic metrics for the Army’s communication enterprise which resulted in numerous alliances between the United States Army and some of the top leading international communication firms.

Under Eder’s influence, they also forged a strategic vision to create a communication centric knowledge portal for the Army communication system. Although it was a new horizon for the communication community, it propelled the Army’s communication system into one central network.

Eder’s efforts as the Department of the Army’s Deputy Chief of Public Affairs, were noted by the Secretary of the Army when he described her as “One of the key individuals who moved the Army forward in communicating more effectively.”

“There are many moments in which you can witness history, and certainly if you are there at that time, you get to meet people who have done remarkable things for the Army and for the Army Reserve,” said Eder.

“I got to meet one of our young warriors who received the Silver Star for his actions in Afghanistan, and see the award ceremony,” said Eder. “At the award ceremony which he was presented with the Silver Star and you could just see his humility, and to be there to witness all of the other peoples reaction,” said Eder.
‘There are many of those moments. The first day I was in the Pentagon in Public Affairs I came to my office which is on the first floor and it was near the Pentagon Memorial, the chapel,” said Eder.

“I am watching the tour groups come by and listening to the young soldiers from the Old Guard describe the events of 9/11," said Eder.

“Where Army Public Affairs is now it was the first group to move back into the Pentagon after 9/11, into those offices right beside that memorial. I would go into the chapel every morning as I came in and that would get my mind set right away for the day,” said Eder. “That is why I am here, this was my motivation,” added Eder.

“Even though we called it the ‘reverse laundry’, instead of in by nine and out by five, it was in by six in the morning and out by six or seven at night,” said Eder of her working hours at the Pentagon.

“I would watch people be irritated with the tour groups, because they would be in there way and trying to get to a meeting, and I would always come up behind them and join them and talk to them,” said Eder of her desire to help them understand what happened on that day.

“I would continue to meet people who were in the Pentagon during the attack and did different things on that day. I was in Germany so my perspective of the attack was different than theirs,” said Eder.

“I talked to someone who worked in G-1 who worked there during the time frame of the attack, and they showed me ‘I was in this office on that day and what it meant to me’, said Eder. “He took me out into the hallway and showed me the chart that indicated the path of the plane, ‘Here is where I was, it knocked me out of my chair, and we started going this way to pull people out and bring them out’,” said Eder.

“The then Chief of the Navy Reserve, John Connor, an American Airlines pilot as a civilian, I watched him many times take a group of Navy officers down that same hallway where I worked and say ‘This is where the wingspan was, my friend was piloting the plane that day’, so it is real,” said Eder.

“If you hear the tour guides, the 18 year olds in the Old Guard, they have memorized this and it will sound to you like it was a hundred years ago, like talking about the Civil War and American Airlines Flight 77,” said Eder.

Eder was constantly reminded of the attack from a continuing variety of perspectives.

“I was here this day and I have not slept the same way since, I was over here this day and I helped people come out, I was lucky that day I was not there, I went out to get a Coke and I would have been injured,” said Eder. She heard the stories daily from 2004 through 2007 while she worked in Army Public Affairs.
Due to the exposure she got while working in the Pentagon about 911, the event got inside her and became part of who she was as a person, according to Eder. “It is important to me,” said Eder.
Additionally, Eder is a highly regarded and published author.

Eder’s numerous scholarly publications on communication span Army, Navy and Air Force professional publications. Her writing on communication culminated with her seminal book publication last year, "Leading the Case for Strategic Communication."
“I have written several articles on strategic communications (STRATCOM),” said Eder. “There are a number of discussions that go on about it, such as what is strategic communications and who should do it,” said Eder. “Is it a public affairs function, or should it be done at a higher level,” said Eder.

“When I first came to Army Public Affairs in the Pentagon my then boss said ’we are sending you to Qatar. CENTCOM is having issues with how strategic communications should be implemented’,” said Eder.

“Should it (STRATCOM) be run at the G-3, or should it be in their public affairs shop,” said Eder.

“Certainly they are sending me thinking I will not have a pre-determined outcome, but my views were much more down the middle as to what should be done and how it should be approached,” said Eder.

“You have a position and you are here for a reason, and so I wrote an article about strategic communications that was published in Military Review magazine,” said Eder.

“It took me two years to write the article because I kept re-writing it, but I got a lot of positive feedback on it,” said Eder.
“Since then I have written another article that was in the naval magazine Proceedings,” said Eder.

“There still is not much in the way of doctrine for strategic communications that are definitive even the definitions are vague perhaps than we would all like,” said Eder.

“So a couple of years ago when I became the JSTSC Commander I was in a class, I realized I had written four articles and I said to myself, If I write this, this and this I can make a book,” said Eder.

“Over the next three months I finished the book as a series of loosely connected essays on the topic of communications, public affairs, media relations, based on a lot of what I teach, what I know, what I believe,” said Eder.

“It was written over a longer period of time and from a number of different perspectives, so it does not flow, it was not meant to,” said Eder.

“Some universities are starting to use it as a text in mass communications courses,” said Eder of her strategic communications book.

Eder has a long history in the public affairs arena in both her civilian capacity, and in her military career.

After fulfilling a civilian career, which included the first DA civilian to be a Training With Industry intern at Fleischman-Hillard, she became an international communications consultant
for the George C. Marshall Center for International Studies.

Eder’s work in communications took her throughout Europe and includes Poland and Russia during turbulent times.

Eder’s retirement ceremony will be at the Army/Navy Club in Washington D.C. on Aug. 31, 2012

• Date Taken: 08.24.2012
• Date Posted: 08.24.2012 16:53
• Story ID: 93758
• Location: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, US
• Hometown: GROVE CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, US