FORT LEE, Va. — Directors and staff members filled nearly every seat inside the Ordnance Training Support Facility classroom as they gathered for a strategic offsite focused on one of the Army's fastest-growing technologies—artificial intelligence.
Open laptops and ready notebooks lined the tables as lively conversations buzzed through the room before the first presentation began.
Directors and staff from across the installation gathered with a common objective, finding practical ways AI could help Fort Lee operate more efficiently and effectively.
The workshop was part of a broader effort by Fort Lee leadership to identify innovative ways to improve operations in an environment of constrained resources and increasing demands.
"We are trying to do more with less," said Col. Rich Bendelewski, Fort Lee garrison commander. "These tools are available. Use them. Our people are using these tools; our adversaries are using these tools, and we have to start using them to achieve greater efficiencies."
Bendelewski encouraged leaders to challenge traditional processes and explore how emerging technologies can help solve long-standing organizational challenges.
"Anytime you have a requirement coming up, think about how you can do it differently," Bendelewski said. "If there are policy challenges, let's have those conversations. We cannot allow bureaucracy to prevent us from exploring tools that can help us become more effective."
Leading the discussion was Dr. Thomas Easterly, director of the Plans, Analysis and Integration Office at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, who guided participants through the opportunities and challenges associated with generative AI and its growing role across the Army.
"The speed at which a generative AI model produces an answer, and the vast amount of information it contains, expedites a lot of mission-critical tasks," Easterly said.
Throughout the day, leaders examined how AI could support strategic planning, data analysis, resource management and other critical functions across the installation. Participants worked through organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats while identifying potential pilot projects tailored to their respective directorates.
While Easterly highlighted the benefits of emerging technologies, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of maintaining human oversight and accountability.
"The human in the loop has to take into consideration all those things existential to that answer," Easterly said. "We cannot forgo critical thinking when using AI. AI will take that away from you in a heartbeat because it's really good at what it does." Easterly explained that while AI can dramatically increase productivity and reduce the time required to analyze information, leaders must remain engaged in the decision-making process.
"Anything that leaves a commander's or director's office using an AI model—it's still your product," Easterly said. "You can't blame AI for the mistake. You are the final authority."
That message resonated with attendees as discussions shifted from theoretical applications to practical solutions for challenges facing the installation.
According to Miguel Correa, Fort Lee's lead plans specialist and one of the primary organizers of the workshop, the event represented months of planning and coordination.
"It was a massive, multi-phased effort that started long before everyone sat down at the ODTSF," Correa said. "To make this offsite effective, the Plans, Analysis and Integration Office had to analyze thousands of pages of historical documents, reports and surveys. We used generative AI to help synthesize that information into a baseline SWOT analysis."
Correa said the effort was a true team project, developed in close collaboration with Chris Dutton, a member from the PAIO team. Dutton's work supporting the offsite and related planning efforts was recognized with the Civilian Service Achievement Medal. Correa said the planning team also coordinated with Easterly and conducted virtual pre-training sessions with directors to ensure participants arrived prepared to put AI tools into practice.
"The goal was to ensure that when we arrived at the workshop, we were ready to put the technology to work," Correa said. One of the primary objectives, he added, was helping leaders understand that AI is neither a standalone solution nor a replacement for experienced personnel.
"The biggest misconception was that AI is either an IT problem or a magic wand that works on its own," Correa said. "AI doesn't walk the ground, and it lacks human context. The technology is simply a tool that helps buy back our most precious resource—time."
As the workshop progressed, the energy in the room evolved from cautious curiosity to active collaboration. Directors and staff exchanged ideas, shared data and explored opportunities to work across organizational boundaries.
"The energy shifted from cautious curiosity in the morning to highly collaborative action by the afternoon," Correa said. "By the time groups began building their pilot projects, directors were exchanging ideas, sharing data and collaborating on solutions that crossed organizational boundaries."
For Melissa Reece, information assurance specialist, the event demonstrated how AI can help address many of the challenges organizations face on a daily basis.
"For me, the biggest takeaway was seeing how the challenges we talk about every day, manual record keeping, aging infrastructure and disconnected systems, can be addressed in practical ways through AI," Reece said. "The workshop made it clear that AI is no longer a far-off concept. We're at a point where we can begin applying it to real challenges across the garrison."
Reece said the discussions also changed her perception of what AI can do for Army organizations.
"I came into the workshop viewing AI primarily as automation or a collection of smart tools," she said. "The discussions showed it is much more than that. AI is a force multiplier that can help us work smarter by bringing together data we already have and providing clearer, faster insights."
By the end of the workshop, each directorate had mapped out its immediate next steps.
"Every directorate left with a draft 24-month artificial intelligence action plan and a pilot project. We will now work with each organization to refine those plans, identify required resources and establish measurable return-on-investment metrics," Correa said.
Bendelewski said the workshop represented only the beginning of Fort Lee's AI journey and encouraged leaders to continue exploring innovative solutions that improve organizational effectiveness and mission performance.
As Fort Lee continues exploring ways to modernize operations and improve services, leaders said the workshop marked an important step toward integrating emerging technologies while preserving the critical thinking, accountability and leadership that remain essential to mission success.
For Fort Lee's leaders, the workshop represented more than an introduction to emerging technology. It marked the beginning of a deliberate effort to harness AI as a force multiplier while preserving the human judgment and leadership necessary to support Soldiers, families and the Fort Lee community.