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CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment met with leaders and interacted with garrison employees during a daylong visit to the largest overseas installation, here, Sept. 12.
The Honorable Brendan Owens toured U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys as part of a 10-day Pacific Rim trip, which included stops at seven installations in Japan, Guam and South Korea.
“This feels like a different place compared to other Army installations I’ve visited in the U.S.,” Owens said at the first stop while addressing more than 50 Directorate of Public Works employees who lined the walls of DPW’s expansive atrium.
“USAG Humphreys’ uniqueness in the Army’s portfolio is a major reason why we’re here. My focus is quality of life for service members and families,” he said.
While there, Owens presented command coins to five employees for their significant contributions to the garrison’s success, including David Strohm, USFK deputy assistant chief of staff; Patrick Jones, operations officer; Song Hyein, energy technician; Kang Chang Kyong, mechanical engineer; and Chu Chin Hyong, engineering technician.
Owens also received extensive, detailed briefs in the base operations command center on energy resiliency and data-driven decision-making processes from John Ghim, DPW director, and Jaewon Kim, chief of DPW’s operations and maintenance division.
“The beauty of this is we’re learning, we’re adapting, we’re changing,” said Kim after describing DPW’s pilot project, which uses data to drive maintenance decisions for the garrison’s buildings and their components.
Throughout the course of the day, Owens had an office call with Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, commanding general, Eighth U.S. Army, met with leaders from DPW and Defense Logistics Agency, and toured the airfield, Talon Dining Facility, unaccompanied enlisted barracks and one of three brand-new housing towers that were memorialized the following day.
(Note: Those three housing towers recently received a gold status for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which distinguishes projects in terms of best practices in sustainability.)
At each stop, Owens and his two-person staff delved into the details and actively engaged employees. He curiously opened cabinets and looked behind doors not unlike a prospective tenant in a new apartment.
While touring unaccompanied enlisted barracks room of Spc. Merari Sanchez, a network communications specialist for 2nd Infantry Division Artillery, Owens asked if anything was missing or if she could recommend any improvements.
Sanchez, who compared the room favorably to her previous barracks at Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg, N.C.), said the dryers in the laundry room took a long time to dry clothes.
Within minutes, Owens was in the shared laundry room checking specifications and inquiring about washer and dryer maintenance and life cycles.
He was also asked if the building had a common area where Soldiers could hang out (It does not), and where they washed their gear (in the mud room across the hall from the laundry room).
Owens’ interest in the minutiae was not merely pedestrian as he also serves as the Department of Defense’s chief sustainability officer and chief housing officer, and administers the DoD’s real property portfolio, which encompasses millions of acres and more than 500,000 buildings and structures at more than 500 installations.
USAG Humphreys boasts more than1,000 of those 500,000 buildings of which Owens oversees.
Capt. Kevin Pham, DPW program manager, briefed Owens in the lobby of the unaccompanied enlisted barracks where Sanchez lives.
“What (the garrison commander) wants to know, is when will various building components fail, and how can I adequately allocate resources and funds to mitigate that,” Pham said.
Throughout the day on the bus and at each stop, Col. Ryan Workman, USAG Humphreys garrison commander, engaged Owens and his staff, providing details on demographics, infrastructure management, challenges and successes.
“We’re leaning pretty far forward and learning as we go,” Workman told Owens.
By the end of the day, Owens remained inquisitive.
As the 1st Signal Brigade staff at the Communications Center thanked him for visiting, Owens expressed his gratitude for their time and detailed answers on structures and complex systems.
“We’re buildings people,” he said with a smile.
Owens’ visit was his first to the Korean Peninsula since assuming the role of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, Jan. 26, 2023.
More on Owens:
Visit to Guam, Sept. 8: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8629921/assistant-secretary-defense-visits-guam-thaad-task-force
Owens’ bio: https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/leadership/brendan-owens.html
| Date Taken: | 09.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.15.2024 22:33 |
| Story ID: | 480917 |
| Location: | PYEONGTAEK, KR |
| Web Views: | 43 |
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