Photo By Sgt. Charlie Duke | Leaders from across 1st Armored Division browse booths set up to help them learn more...... read more read more
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EL PASO, Texas – The 1st Armored Division held its Iron Summit 2024 at the Abraham Chavez Theatre in downtown El Paso December 17-18, bringing together more than 1,000 leaders from across the Fort Bliss and El Paso communities.
The annual leadership event aims to develop leaders, build team cohesion, strengthen community relations, and foster unity of purpose.
Since 2020, Fort Bliss has spearheaded Operation Ironclad, an initiative ensuring leaders have the resources to promote trust and create a successful environment across the installation. Iron Summit allows leaders to engage with organizations, such as Holistic Health and Fitness, Army Education Center, and Army Community Service, and receive information that will assist leaders in commanding their units.
Maj. Gen. Curtis D. Taylor, the commanding general of the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, opened the Iron Summit with remarks on the importance of empowerment. “Building the right culture that empowers and enables leaders is the most important thing we can do in the 1st Armored Division. This is why we are here today. This is what the Iron Summit is all about.”
Additionally, motivational and influential speakers from across the country working in various industries, such as sports, business, and the military speak at the annual event.
This year’s summit focused on three key components of the division’s Iron Campaign Plan: Ironclad, Iron Forge, and Iron Ready. These elements center on people, modernization, and readiness—critical areas for the Army's continued success.
“We create an environment where leaders can step away from their regular tasks and hear from influential voices across the Army,” said Maj. Audley Campbell, 1st Armored Division G-5 planner and Iron Summit lead. "They absorb these messages, reflect on them, and then return to their units to share that knowledge with Soldiers."
Throughout the event, motivational speakers and senior Army leaders covered topics ranging from leadership to building a winning team, fostering resiliency, and effective training management.
Guest speakers included Coach Mike Krzyzewski, head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team and Duke Blue Devils; Jim Davidson, a resilience expert who summited Mount Everest; Gen. (ret.) Robert Brown, president of the Association of the United States Army; Gen. James Rainey, commanding general of U.S. Army Futures Command; Col. (ret.) John Antal, leadership development coach; and the 12th Sergeant Major of the Army (ret.) Jack Tilley.
The summit also emphasized modernization significantly, highlighting the Army's need for continuous transformation to maintain its readiness and lethality. “We aren’t just building an Army for 2030 or 2040—we are constantly evolving,” said Rainey.
Speakers stressed the importance of agility and adaptation, noting that the pace of warfare is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, driven by emerging technologies like drones and artificial intelligence. These technologies present both opportunities to enhance capabilities and challenges, as they also create new vulnerabilities.
War will always be filled with uncertainty, which is why the human dynamic is so central to war; bravery and courage will remain essential to war, which is why leadership will always be important. “Leaders can bridge capability gaps through innovative techniques, tactics, and procedures,” said Antal.
While much of the summit focused on military readiness and innovation, organizers also emphasized the strong relationship between the 1st Armored Division and the El Paso community, which is why the event is held in downtown El Paso annually.
“Fort Bliss is El Paso, and El Paso is Fort Bliss,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commanding general of the 1st Armored Division. “We continue to partner in a lot of community events, and we wanted to use this venue to show the strong history and heritage of El Paso.”
The summit concluded with an engaging audience discussion, allowing participants to ask senior leaders questions about future rotational deployments, strategic planning, and leadership development.
| Date Taken: | 12.20.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2024 12:58 |
| Story ID: | 488101 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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