Redstone Arsenal, Ala - National Guard Major General Allen Harrell has been on the job at Redstone Arsenal for just a few weeks. He is the new Assistant Deputy Commanding General For National Guard Affairs at the Army Materiel Command. His job is pretty straightforward. "To build readiness, to build readiness in the United States Army Reserves and Army National Guard units in particular...materiel readiness," said General Harrell.
General Harrell's work touches every soldier in the Army, which of course is what AMC does by making sure that sustaining supplies and gear get where they need to be when they need to be there. It turns out that General Harrell coming from the National Guard is actually a bonus to getting the job done. "Seventy percent of the Army's sustainment force is in the Guard and Reserves. So it's critical for sustainment units, Guard and Reserves sustainment units, to be prepared to deploy whenever...very quickly...to sustain the rest of the Army," said General Harrell.
It's obvious that keeping the soldiers who sustain the Army working efficiently is crucial. The Guard and Reserves are certainly up to the job, but it is complicated by every state and territory having its own Guard. Efficient communication becomes a big deal. "To make sure they understand the policies and programs that are coming out of the Army Materiel Command, and it goes in reverse as well, making sure that the leaders at AMC get the information from the Guard and understand the issues that the guard has," said General Harrell.
Once again, Major General Allen Harrell has only been on the job for a few weeks, but when he says with a smile on his face that he's excited about the opportunity to make things work better, you believe he means it.