“Leadership and management with responsibility for the efficient and effective delivery of services for community stakeholders” is a statement that sums up a city or county manager’s daily role. It’s also a succinct job description for each of the nearly 75 garrison commanders who oversee the effective operation of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) facilities in the United States and abroad. 

Army bases are more than Quonset huts and weapon depots for the men and women who protect our freedom. In addition to being the workplace of military personnel and the civilian staff who support them, army garrisons often include residential and housing units, as well as schools and childcare and medical facilities. Bases often provide police, fire, public safety, and other essential services.

Recognizing the professional similarities between local government management and installation management, ICMA and IMCOM have engaged in periodic conversations about strengthening the training for the army’s garrison commanders by connecting them with ICMA professional development, content resources, and most importantly, city and county managers.

ICMA Partners with IMCOM

The evolving partnership between ICMA and IMCOM has been nurtured by ICMA Executive Director Bob O'Neill and Fred Meurer, a longtime ICMA member and former city manager of Monterey, California. Prior to his local government experience, Meurer was a combat veteran serving in Vietnam and later as an army garrison leader at Fort Ord, California. While at Fort Ord, he often interacted with local government personnel in communities surrounding the base and came to appreciate how similar his job was to that of a city manager. Meurer noticed that local governments and the CAOs he worked with did a much better job of providing professional development for future city leadership positions than what the army provided for garrison commanders. As he said in a recent interview: “As a garrison commander, I had been trained and educated to be a combat leader, not a de facto city manager.”

As city manager of Hampton, Virginia, O'Neill had the privilege of hosting several outstanding army officers on their way to their first installation commander assignments: "In every case, our army colleagues gained valuable insight into their new role. And just as important, my team with the city gained fresh perspective on our operations. Having installation commanders join the network of city/county managers will enrich both groups."

Earlier this year, ICMA and the U.S. Army piloted a project that placed soon-to-be garrison commanders in a week-long fellowship with a local government to focus on city management strategies, tools, and tactics.

According to Lieutenant General David Halverson, the former commanding general of IMCOM, “Our army installations are just like a city or town. We assign senior officers who are highly seasoned and successful combat leaders to be garrison commanders for these installations. While they are proven military leaders, they do not necessarily have any previous experience running an installation.”

Pilot Communities

Five pilot communities—Dubuque, Iowa; Fort Lauderdale and Clearwater, Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; and Charlotte, North Carolina—hosted an incoming garrison commander. In each of the communities, the garrison commanders were provided an immersion in local government management and the daily functions of a city manager. Each visit included a welcome meeting or ceremony, as well as sessions with city council members, chambers of commerce, and nonprofit and other community leaders. Site visits to wastewater plants, neighboring jurisdictions, major public-private economic development projects, emergency operation centers, and parks were also a part of each commander’s unique curriculum.

Fort Worth, Texas

Colonel Scott Taylor, as the incoming commander for Fort Irwin, California, the army’s National Training Center, was paired with David Cooke’s city management team in Fort Worth, Texas. During his fellowship week, Taylor engaged with council leaders, community members, economic development personnel, and financial administration staff. He also participated as part of the city’s delegation in a meeting with commanding officers from the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, which is located in Fort Worth, learning about the importance of relationships between bases and surrounding communities.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Like other fellows in other cities, Colonel Andrew Hilmes experienced the full range of Charlotte’s and other local jurisdiction’s services through meetings not only with city staff but also leadership from surrounding jurisdictions, such as Mecklenburg County and the city of Davidson. He also got an up-close view of public private partnerships while visiting and touring many of Charlotte’s city-run and city-involved facilities. He was given an informational briefing and guided tour of the city-run Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and a tour of Bank of America Stadium, which was funded with $75M of city taxpayer money.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Colonel Gregg Athey spent a number of days with the city’s public safety units. While there, the colonel observed Fort Lauderdale’s Mounted Police Unit. Surprised to find out that the city had such a unit, the colonel, a former U.S. Army Calvary Officer, relished his time watching the officers train with the horses then dispatch to duty.  

Clearwater, Florida

Clearwater, Florida’s city manager, Bill Horne, himself a former installation manager for a U.S. Air Force facility, hosted Colonel Jan Norris, who assumed command of Fort Hunter Liggett (California) in July 2015. Norris learned about basic and advanced city service delivery through extensive meetings and conversations with city department heads and their staff. During his tour of the waste management and recycling facilities, Norris met with the director of public utilities, where he learned about the city’s program to reclaim water for irrigation purposes, which decreases demand for external water and provides long-term cost and resource savings.

Dubuque, Iowa

Lieutenant Colonel Greg Ank was welcomed with a meet-and-greet and community tour of Dubuque, Iowa where he learned about the city’s management style, decision making processes, and the community’s commitment to sustainability. During the week, he also attended the swearing-in of three future Dubuque police officers, and capped off his fellowship with a walkthrough of the county’s Regional Fire Training and EOC (Emergency Operations Center) facility that serves 6 fire departments and accommodates police training.

While the intent was to provide a city/county management immersion course for army base commanders, the host communities also benefited from these exceptional learning and experiential partnerships.  Commonly expressed sentiments were offered by the city managers of Charlotte and Fort Lauderdale:

Charlotte was honored to partner with our garrison commander. It gave our staff a better appreciation for life in the U.S. Army, the level of sacrifice that army families make—and, the similarity between what we do running our cities and what the garrison commanders do  running their “cities.” There is clearly mutual benefit from participating in this program.

– Ron Carlee, city manager, Charlotte

As a host to U.S. Army Colonel Gregg Athey, we saw it is an important opportunity to showcase the various responsibilities and duties the city’s public safety units perform – an opportunity that we knew would be invaluable to Colonel Athey has he prepared for his new managerial role at the garrison. In return, Colonel Athey imparted knowledge to us on how to improve security measures around our water treatment centers.

–Lee Feldman, city manager, Fort Lauderdale

The consensus among each of the participating commanders, as well as the host community city managers, was that the program was a valuable experience. According to Lieutenant General Halverson, “The feedback we received from our pilot fellowship program was incredibly positive, indicating a successful and valuable experience for both the host cities and the garrison commanders. The far-reaching benefits of this fellowship program are truly impressive.” 

In addition to the fellowship program, ICMA has provided affiliate membership for each of the army’s garrisons, enabling staff from each facility to benefit from ICMA resources. More than 65 military bases took advantage of the opportunity over the past year.

Looking Ahead

ICMA and IMCOM are currently exploring how to scale the fellowship program to provide an experience for all incoming army garrison commanders and potentially for city and county managers to spend a week at an army installation. Both the commanders and the managers suggested that a reciprocal visit sometime during the garrison commander’s tenure would be beneficial.  ICMA is also talking with other service branches to gauge interest in similar activities and has received some initial interest.

Honoring Veterans

Veterans Day, November 11, is the day each year that we honor America’s veterans who demonstrate a willingness to serve and sacrifice for their country and the common good.  While not a celebration of service, and clearly designed to provide experiential and practical experiences, the ICMA and IMCOM partnership also produced intangible outcomes as described by Mike Van Milligen, city manager, Dubuque, Iowa, and host for Lieutenant Colonel Gregory Ank: “Having Colonel Ank in Dubuque was a great experience, but I feel a little guilty. He was here to learn about running a city, but I think we learned more from him about honor, service, and commitment.” 

ICMA thanks the millions of veterans, as well as active duty and reservist personnel, who have sacrificed, and continue to sacrifice, for the United States.