Commander's Blog

Throughout the month of January, we are celebrating National Mentoring Month across the country to focus our attention on the importance of effective mentoring to help our young people develop their talents and mature as individuals. Through this outstanding program, national partners work with local leaders to organize special events within their communities, and the effort has gained the support of the President and members of Congress, as well as entertainers, sports figures and celebrities. While this work is extremely significant in helping to guide the youth of our nation, I believe we should also consider the value of mentorship at all levels, including our USAMMDA team.

Mentoring is incredibly important, and I have been fortunate to have a number of mentors throughout my career. These people had different personality types and leadership styles, and I was able to view their various traits from a unique perspective, which was very helpful to me. Although many mentors helped to shape me over the years, one who stands out is Col. (Ret.) Ronald L. McNabb, who was a superb medical logistician. I first worked for Col. McNabb at Fort Bragg when I was the Battalion S4/Logistics Officer for the 32nd Medical Logistics Battalion. I then worked under him again as the chief of the Materiel Branch at Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was the chief of the Logistics Division.

Col. McNabb's influence on me was lasting, and I will always remember the four "lessons" I learned from him:

1. Always maintain a customer focus;
2. Never say "No" without a good reason;
3. Pursue information;
4. Practice management by walking around.

While all of his guidance was very helpful, I would say the fourth point may be the most significant for me, as I would go out every Tuesday, as the S4, and meet face-to-face with the various directorates that supported us, as well as the customers that we supported. The importance of regular face-to-face contact has stayed with me over the years, and I gladly adopted this as a part of my personal management style. Yes, Col. McNabb was probably the most significant mentor I've had during my career, and I certainly owe him much gratitude for his advice, willingness and patience to work with me.

So, this comes back to the importance of mentoring at all levels, and at all times throughout life. People should seek out their mentors, and all of us should also be willing to serve as mentors when asked. I currently mentor a number of officers that I have worked with over the years, and I truly enjoy our exchange of information because I learn as much from them as they may learn from me. This group includes people I mentor because of my role as commander and some that have been directed to me from others, and I gladly help all in any way I can.

Another key point is that we should look for a mentor who has been successful in an area in which we'd also like to be successful. While this may seem obvious, you'd be surprised how many of us gravitate towards a particular personality rather than someone with a strong history in a certain field. While it would be ideal to align with a really pleasant mentor, sometimes the "tough" ones are the best teachers because they are the people who will provide honest, critical feedback, which is extremely important in helping us grow as individuals. I often refer to a number of my mentors as "tor-mentors" – but I certainly use this term fondly, of course, because without their honest input and feedback, I may not have reached this point in my career. We can learn something valuable from every person who chooses to mentor others, and we all should be open-minded when mentoring or being mentored, as this will provide us with the greatest opportunity to develop in all areas of our lives. However, within this process self-assessment is extremely important, and we must serve as our own harshest critics.

Again, with regard to our USAMMDA team, mentoring can certainly help us in developing our leadership skills across the board, and we've recently established the Leadership Development Cohort Program to help our staff in this area. We truly value and encourage the continued growth and development of our current and emerging leaders, because this is critical for the efficient, effective accomplishment of our USAMMDA mission. This six-month program will be led by a recognized leadership coach who will offer training in areas that include leading others, achieving results, leading change, building partnerships, and gaining business acumen. We are very excited to provide this training, and we know it will only help strengthen our fantastic USAMMDA team going forward.

And speaking of our excellent team, I am very happy to say that USAMMDA will soon receive its award for achieving U.S. Army Safety and Occupational Health "Star Status." This program falls under the Army Safety Health Management System, which demonstrates a cooperative and proactive safety partnership of management, labor and regulatory agencies. These workplaces are identified as model sites, showing the employees, industry and the community that they are leaders in safety and health. The ASHMS program is designed to reduce accidents and lost time, improve productivity and reduce worker compensation costs by building a safety-conscious culture in the workplace through the execution of effective safety practices and procedures. Although we earned this honor about 18 months ago – and we were the first unit at Fort Detrick to do so – various logistical issues have delayed the presentation; however, Maj. Gen. Barbara Holcomb, commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and Fort Detrick, will be presenting our group with this prestigious award on February 7. And I refer to it as prestigious because only a handful of Army organizations have earned the right to receive the SOH flag, and we will certainly display it proudly in our building – thanks to everyone in our USAMMDA family!

Each day, I feel blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people who serve our nation!

Hooah!

COL William Geesey