Photo By Eric Pilgrim | Maj. Gen. John Evans Jr., commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command and senior...... read more read more
FORT KNOX, Ky. — After leaving the secretive world of Special Operations in May 2018, then-Brig. Gen. John Evans arrived at Fort Knox with his Family to take on the challenges of a much more public role.
His new dual-hatted position as senior commander of the installation and commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command had come as a surprise.
“I’d been told by the SOCOM commander that I would likely end up being the deputy commander for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, so that’s where I kind of thought I was going to be,” said Evans.
In March of that year, the Army notified Evans he would be coming to Fort Knox to lead Cadet Command and take the reins of the garrison support missions. At the same time, the installation was focused on several plans to celebrate its centennial history.
“I was excited about it,” said Evans. “A two-star command is better than being a deputy somewhere else.”
Evans was not a complete stranger to the post when he took command. He had attended the Advanced Armor Course in 1995 for his Captain’s Career Course credit, even though he is an aviator by profession. Still, the opportunity to tackle a new set of challenges excited him.
“I had never been a [Professor of Military Science], I had never worked in ROTC before, and frankly, besides being a consumer of [U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command] courses, I had never been assigned to TRADOC before,” said Evans.
Now after three years at Fort Knox, Evans said he feels fortunate to have had an unusually long tenure in the senior command position. Most commanding generals hold the position for around two years. During that time, Evans faced a number of big issues, to include the Army’s efforts to abate lead-based paint and improve the overall quality of life in military housing throughout much of 2019.
“The Army housing discussion … was a big one. The Army focused on that like a laser beam,” said Evans. “As a senior commander, that took a lot of my bandwidth, and rightly so because we need to make sure our Soldiers and their Families are living in suitable, and livable, and clean, and functional housing.
“We were blessed in that we did not have significant issues in that arena.”
By March of 2020, the installation got word of a new coronavirus on the horizon that was affecting the lives of people around the entire globe.
“COVID has shaped everything we did for the last year-and-a-half,” said Evans. “The safety and welfare of our Soldiers, civilians, family members, occupants, visitors … on the installation became primary in that regard.”
Evans and his team of experts in Garrison dusted off an old set of plans that had been shelved a decade prior in anticipation of just such a day, and they quickly implemented much of what was in those plans, tweaked to fit the times and situation.
Included in that list of changes were regular virtual town halls to keep the community involved — the first happening March 10.
Fort Knox was considered one of the first to conduct a COVID-19 town hall in March 2020.
“We worked very hard on the information campaign,” said Evans. “I said, ‘Hey look, here’s the deal: people are scared, people don’t know what’s going on; we need to get out there.”
Just a year prior, Evans and Garrison officials had launched a series of town hall sensing sessions to learn about resident housing concerns.
What followed that first town hall in 2020 was a wave of changes throughout the community, from establishing Plexiglas barriers at the commissary, Exchange and medical facilities, extreme sanitization, required face coverings, social distancing and telework. Included in those changes were the schools.
Evans blessed off on the revamped security measures and PCS movement issues. He also halted the annual Cadet Summer Training event in 2020.
Throughout the process, health officials at U.S. Army Medical Activity and Ireland Army Health Clinic set the conditions for many of the decisions made.
“You’ve got to recognize and acknowledge talent where you have it,” said Evans. “The fabulous people at our MEDDAC here, and Dr. James Stephens, who is our public health practitioner — amazing!”
Evans said Stephens remained consistent, upbeat and professional throughout the darker days of COVID.
“His confidence just spread throughout the community,” said Evans. “When Dr. Stephens talked, people had great confidence in what he had to say.”
Life and vital Army missions continued at the post in 2020 despite all the COVID restrictions.
Evans’ team supported the establishment and successful implementation of the Battalion Commanders Assessment Program at Fort Knox, followed shortly afterward by the Colonels Command Assessment Program and eventually the Sergeant Majors Assessment Program.
Projects continued, including the construction of a new Ireland Army Health Clinic and Veterans Affairs health clinic — both opened in 2020 — only the third Digital Air-Ground Integration Range in the world and the first east of the Rockies — to open in 2023 — as well as a steel cutting bunker for engineers that opening this year.
Annual Army events like the Army Ten Miler came and went, though other annual events like the Fourth of July celebration at Brooks Field and Oktoberfest were cancelled. Still others like Patriot Day became a much quieter affair.
One major event which did not get cancelled in 2020 was the official arrival Oct. 16 of V Corps.
“It’s a big feather in the hat of Fort Knox to have a three-star command here again — a corps that’s going to be focused on Europe,” said Evans. “We know how important that theater’s going to be with regard to our national security strategy and some of our adversaries in that part of the world.
“Getting that right, getting them here, and setting the conditions for them to be able to step right into the mission was very, very important.”
Another goal achieved was Evans’ success in getting the Patton Museum opened to the public with direct access from Highway 31W. He said it took three years to accomplish.
“The Patton Museum is a real gift in the Army,” said Evans. “The Center for Military History’s been very, very supportive of our efforts. The Patton Foundation has been very supportive of our efforts. And I really wanted to find a way to open that gate up so that people would not have to come through our Visitors Center, wander through the installation trying to find the Patton Museum to enjoy it.”
The spouse employment center has become yet another accomplishment. Initially, Fort Knox wasn’t slated to open to a spouse center. Evans wanted one.
“I saw this on social media and reached out to the colonel in Washington [D.C.] who’s running it and said, ‘Hey, can I do this at Fort Knox?’ He said, ‘Hey sir, if you want to do it, you can. We don’t have any money for you, but if you can do it out of hide, then absolutely,’” Evans said.
He approached the Garrison team with the idea. They made it happen.
“We’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of support from the spouses,” said Evans. “They’re very appreciative of having that space, and as we expand it over time, we’ll look for a better space; a larger space with maybe more capacity and capability.”
Evans said every decision, every success has boiled down to one fact.
“We succeeded to a great degree, but only because of the strength of the team,” said Evans. “I tell people all of the time, Fort Knox is very unique.”
The team includes community partners and leaders from outside the gates.
“Everybody swings together, everybody supports Fort Knox,” said Evans. “We’ve got partnerships from the University of Louisville, we’ve got Gold Neighbors that are continuing to do things for our troops and our units here; and we’ve got a very engaged civic group of local leaders that I’ve been able to build and foster a very useful rapport with.
“That’s always something we should strive for, particularly in the senior commander job because we’re the largest employer in Hardin County and Meade County. People have a stake in what Fort Knox is doing.”
A set of team members unique to Fort Knox, according to Evans, are the nine general officer commands operating at the installation. Evans called them partners with whom he regularly worked to get things done.
“I cannot tell you how much I appreciated and received their unqualified support for everything I tried to do as a senior commander,” said Evans. “Fort Knox works because they do that. They rally behind the senior commander. They pitch in with the Cadet Command team, the senior command team, the Garrison team; and they make things happen.
“We don’t look like nine different general officer commands; we look like Fort Knox in one body when we’re making decisions.”
Evans will relinquish command on Aug. 3 to Brig. Gen. Johnny Davis. Where he goes next remains to be announced.
“I’ll miss the people here,” said Evans. “My wife and I, our family, we just felt embraced by this community. We have so many friends and had such an incredible experience with them.
“There’s something special about Fort Knox, and we’ll miss that.”
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Editor’s Note: For additional photos of Evans’ time at Fort Knox, visit our official Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortknoxky/albums/72157719611996699.
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2021 13:24 |
| Story ID: | 402138 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 1,493 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fort Knox senior commander reflects on three-year tenure during pandemic, changes, by Eric Pilgrim, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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