Army Starts Here

The News Enterprise ^ | May 28, 2010 | Marty Finley

[Stonewall Jackson]

Memorial Day came early for one family this year.

Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Maude’s service and sacrifice was forever etched in stone and steel with the construction and christening of the Human Resource Center of Excellence at Fort Knox.

The center was dedicated to Maude’s memory Thursday during a public memorial and ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the facility, now known as the Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Maude Complex.

Maude, a senior ranking human resource official for the U.S. Army, was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 11, 2001, during a terrorist attack on the Pentagon, where he worked.

He was the highest ranking military officer killed during the attacks and the first of such high rank killed by enemy actions since the Korean War.

His wife, Teri, said she was overwhelmed at the expanse and craftsmanship poured into the facility, which encompasses 883,000 square feet.

“I’m just absolutely amazed,” she said. Her visit to the post Thursday was her first glimpse of the complex.

The center will house U.S. Army Accessions Command, Cadet Command, Human Resources Command and Recruiting Command. By the time it reaches full strength, roughly 4,400 military and civilian workers and contractors will be employed there.

The facility is one-sixth the size of the Pentagon and the largest office building in Kentucky, according to the Fort Knox Public Affairs Office. Likewise, it is one of the largest facilities built by the Army and is in the process of obtaining a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, which would make it one of the largest energy efficient buildings the Army has, said Col. Keith Landry, commander of the Louisville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

During the ceremony, Maude was described as a humble man who put soldiers and people first and recognized the need to nourish the human capital at the Army’s disposal.

Maj. Gen. Sean Byrne, commander of Human Resources Command, said the Army is not equipment, guns, planes and tanks.

“We’re an Army with a heartbeat, and he could feel it,” Byrne said of Maude.

Teri Maude said her husband would be humbled by the honor. She described him as a servant giving of himself — one would have to press him to learn he was a general.

He always introduced himself as a simple soldier, she said, because it is what he believed he was.

“He took care of soldiers,” she said. “That’s what he did, that’s what you do and that’s what’s going to make this facility (a success).”

Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, commander of U.S. Army Accessions Command and new commanding general at Fort Knox, described Maude as an architect of the modern Army because of his influential role in military human resources.

The name of the complex challenges its inhabitants to live up to Maude’s ideals, he added.

Freakley was overseas on the day of the 2001 attacks, so he returned home to personal tragedy and loss.

However, he said the attacks could not dampen the country’s resolve.

“Out of that destruction came a great spirit,” he said, a spirit which continues at Fort Knox.

Gov. Steve Beshear said the complex’s opening is a tangible example of the transition at Fort Knox coming to fruition.

Beshear again described the Base Realignment and Closure Initiative as the state’s largest economic development project because of the influx of thousands of new jobs, but it also is another way the state can help the military. Because of Fort Knox’s new role, the post will touch the lives of practically every soldier in the Army in one way or another, he said.

Beshear also said the state is fully committed to completing the BRAC transition as an able-bodied partner of the post.

In addition to the millions already spent on BRAC projects in the region, $150 million in state funds will be allocated for road construction, water and sewer projects once the Kentucky General Assembly enacts a two-year budget.

Beshear said he will ensure the work is done quickly and adequate funding is appropriated to complete the transition.

The complex is expected to be at full strength by fall and Freakley said the commands will start moving in immediately.

The facility is consolidating various centers for Human Resource Command from Alexandria, Va., Indianapolis and St. Louis. Byrne said about 500-600 Human Resources Command personnel are currently on post and more will be coming. U.S. Army Accessions Command transitioned from Fort Monroe, Va.

Freakley said the work now begins to shift the post’s mission to provide integrated command and control of recruiting and initial military training.

“The Army starts here, and it will be sustained here,” Freakley said.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Mrs. Teri Maude, widow of Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Maude, places a kiss on her husband's portrait Thursday afternoon during the dedication of the Human Resources Center of Excellence at Fort Knox. The center was named for Lt. Gen. Maude who died in the terrorist attacks at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

As an aside, in the article, it states that Lt. General Maude was the first officer of such high rank to be killed by enemy action since Korea, but this is incorrect. Lt. General Walton Walker was killed in a non-combat jeep accident on Dec. 23, 1950. To find the only other Lieutenant General killed by enemy action, you have to go back to WW2, when Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was killed by a Japanese artillery shell while commanding the invasion of Okinawa.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Here’s an article about the new Army Human Resources Command Center at Fort Knox.

[onona]

God Rest His Soul.

[SLB]

The Army is about to find out how ill conceived BRAC actually is. When the decision was made to move the Armor Center/School to Ft Benning all that was considered was the training of Armor Soldiers. There was no thought given to the other side of the coin - combat development along with doctrine development.

I have worked the combat development side for over 23 years. Not saying I am indispensable, but if you look at the gross numbers of persons doing this work you find they are very few and very well qualified and in high demand from industry to work as contractors. Of the 14 Army Civilian employees I worked with when BRAC was announced, only 2 are moving to Ft Benning. The rest will remain behind (I am one of them) and seek other employment. I don’t know the amount of experience the Army is losing, but imagine it is well over 200 years.

I am not certain the Army will ever fully recover from this decision. The Infantry Center has always considered themselves to be coming up on the short end of the stick in the combat development arena and are now making comments that they “will get their fair share, and a little more.”

I fear for the safety of our warriors on the battlefield in the future. As they will not receive the full benefit of having their best interests at heart by those developing their equipment and doctrine.

[Squantos]

Change is fine of yer making doughnut machines but is dangerous if its military doctrine / hardware etc ......

Think tanks (no pun intended SLB) seem to be empty in goobermint these days, intentional or not. Good qualified folks are fed up and leaving and new inexperienced people hired at all levels are hired’n fired to just herd cats in the dark resulting in no end product or results for their customers. In this case the troops and the security of this nation.

[TADSLOS]

The Army is about to find out how ill conceived BRAC actually is. When the decision was made to move the Armor Center/School to Ft Benning all that was considered was the training of Armor Soldiers. There was no thought given to the other side of the coin - combat development along with doctrine development.

Agreed, for all the reasons you state. Streamlining for the sake of dollars can by myopic and bring unintended consequences.

[SLB]

bring unintended consequences.

Where I work we rely heavily on contractors to support our efforts. The lead network engineer and the lead software developer have both been in the job for over 20 years each. One has already committed to another job and the other is right behind. The loss of intellectual capitol is going to be devastating.

[AAABEST]

The Army is about to find out how ill conceived BRAC actually is...

After getting your ping, I decided to actually (for a change) read an article at the top of a thread. What struck me was the irony of it all.

Note the manner in which fed.gov "saves money" - by spending untold millions on constructing behemouth public works projects such as the massive building described in this article.

Also note the manner in which fed.gov "creates jobs" - by initiating make-busy said public works projects while the perfectly good existing bases (that employed thousands) are scuttled.

It seems we might have saved both money and jobs by simply leaving things as they were. I can't help but wonder which politicians and/or other interested parties have their fingers in this lucrative pie.

[Squantos]

All of em buddy.......gotta watch every move every one of em makes regardless of whose side they are on ...........polidiots are IMHO !

Trust is for babies ! They will be hungry and they will crap their diaper. Trust that ! Everything else.......watch it like a hawk or get a free lesson in same subject.

[TADSLOS]

Just think of the military retiree contractor technical specialists with the M1 series of armor that won’t be migrating to Benning. It will take decades to overcome the loss of that level of background and experience.

[colorado tanker]

Thanks for your post. It seemed a bad idea to me and your inside look confirms it.

It's off the wall, but one of the images that flashed in my mind was if Goldfinger pulled his plot after BRAC. Would all those clerks descend on the Gold Depository to stop him armed with pens?

[Stonewall Jackson]

In addition to the Human Resources Command, Fort Knox also acquired the 3rd Brigade/1st Infantry Division.

While a brigade of light infantry isn't quite as intimidating as a horde of tanks bearing down on you, they should keep Auric Goldfinger at bay. ;-)

[colorado tanker]

:-))

[colorado tanker]