Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, commanding general of Army Installation Management Command, is among the leaders on a kickoff panel today at ADC’s Installation Innovation Forum. ADC recently got his views on the state of intergovernmental support agreements in the Army and beyond.
ADC: You have prioritized intergovernmental support agreements within IMCOM and at other installations. What drove that decision?
Lt. Gen. Jones: U.S. Army Installation Management Command provides programs and services that enable the highest quality of life for our soldiers, civilians and families, while supporting the readiness of Army formations on 104 installations around the world. We are America’s Army, and our bond with the American people is foundational to everything we do. Soldiers, families and Army civilians are also members of the local communities near our installations where they live, work, shop and play alongside their neighbors. A strong relationship between on-post communities and the local communities is essential for our Army to meet the needs of our nation.
IGSAs enable us to formally enter public-private partnerships with state or local government entities within the U.S. and its territories for installation support services. IGSAs help us strengthen community relationships and achieve operational efficiencies and cost savings. Currently, IMCOM has 172 IGSAs, meaning that 75% of all IGSAs across DOD belong to IMCOM. Since 2015, we have saved approximately $170 million through these agreements. Based on these initial successes, I directed all garrison commanders to review their contract portfolios for consideration of IGSA partnerships. We formed an IGSA strategic engagement team to train garrison staff, coordinate partnership summits with interested community partners, develop IGSA documentation for execution, and to communicate lessons learned and best practices to both the installation and partners.
Notably, we have 35 IGSAs with universities, including four regional IGSAs that are available to garrisons nationwide for architectural, engineering and environmental services.
ADC: What are some of the biggest partnership successes you’ve seen?
Lt. Gen. Jones: Currently, Fort Moore has the largest IGSA portfolio within the Army. It has 18 IGSAs with local communities to reduce costs and maintain or improve existing installation support services. Partner areas include guardrail maintenance services, heating and air conditioning filter changing services and emergency generator maintenance services. Fort Moore also leverages two HQ IMCOM regional IGSAs with Auburn University and the University of Georgia for environmental, climate resilience, and architectural and engineering services. These services include forest management, environmental compliance, threatened and endangered species surveys, surface water delineations and climate change vulnerability assessments.
Fort Riley has an IGSA with Geary County Unified School District that will save $26 million for just two barracks renovation projects. One of the largest and most successful IGSAs the Army has signed is a 10-year renewable partnership with Sourcewell, a Minnesota-based service cooperative. This partnership will help sustain installations across the nation by providing flexible and efficient alternatives to current contract options on a wide range of services, supplies and equipment.
ADC: IMCOM is, of course, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in “Military City USA.” It’s no surprise that the San Antonio region and Texas in general have entered into some of the more innovative IGSAs. What response do you hear from community leaders, and what is the on-the-ground impact?
Lt. Gen. Jones: IGSAs are mutually beneficial to IMCOM and the civilian communities that our soldiers, families and civilians call home. Our communities often approach us to establish partnerships, and we rely on our partners to find even greater efficiencies for our installations. We are part of the community, with nearly 70% of our soldier and family population living off base, and our relationships with our community partners is one of the ways we connect America’s Army to our communities. These IGSAs provide a new revenue stream for our civilian communities that allow them to hire additional city, county and state employees, from teachers to firefighters. IGSAs also help build the capacity and expertise to create new, innovative programs that lead to future savings for the Army and taxpayers.
ADC: Where do you think IGSAs across the services will look like 10 years from now?
Lt. Gen. Jones: Currently, IMCOM has included the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard in its partnerships with Texas, North Carolina and Alabama state departments of transportation. These DOTs provide airfield paving, storm water runoff engineering controls, traffic signal installation, maintenance and repair, signage, perimeter fencing and any other work associated with road paving services. We also briefed the Army Reserve, Navy and Air Force on the effectiveness and potential of the Sourcewell IGSA, which has saved the Army 20% versus traditional procurement vehicles. IMCOM is also looking into ways to expand the funding sources for IGSAs to include other funding streams such as working capital funds and non-appropriated funds. This change would vastly expand partnership opportunities for existing and new installations to include Army-owned industrial base installations and other sites.
