FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — Lt. Gen. Guy Swan III, U.S. Army North commanding general, met with the Soldiers and Civilians of ARNORTH Jan. 25 during the quarterly Army North Town Hall Meeting at the Fort Sam Houston Golf Club.
The town hall meeting was Swan’s first since he took command Dec. 15; during the gathering, he provided the Army North team his Vision Statement.
Swan said his vision is for Army North to be the Army’s Center of Excellence for Civil Support and Domestic Operations and USNORTHCOM’S “Go To” command to lead, coordinate and support DoD land domain operations in NORTHCOM’S area of responsibility.
“I have a dual vision here that in the Army, we are the leaders within civil support and how the Army should operate in the homeland,” said Swan. “We are the experts at that.
“We are the enablers to make other people successful. Whether that is at state or local level, or our federal partners in FEMA, the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security: ‘We are here to make others successful.’”
Swan told the audience there are four areas the command must be best at: Training, Theater Security Cooperation, Planning, and Command and Control.
“Everyone in this room has a piece of every one of these in some way, shape or form,” he explained. “In some manner, you are contributing to these four capabilities that I see us providing down to others.”
Ultimately, it is up to each member of the team, military and civilian alike, to make the command a success, said Army North’s Command Sgt. Maj. David Wood.
“In order to be relevant, we have to make sure that we’re capable of doing everything that we can … in achieving all of the visions and expectations of our commander and the NORTHCOM commander,” he said.
Swan also asked the Soldiers and Civilians of ARNORTH to do everything, every day, in an ethical manner, follow the law, and remember the command’s supporting role in domestic operations.
“None of this is possible without great people,” said Swan. “Everyone is important. Whatever your position is, whatever your specialty, you are important to the command.”
To open the town hall meeting, Swan presented awards to numerous Soldiers and Civilians for their contributions and services with the Combined Federal Campaign, the Vibrant Response 10.1 field training exercise, time-in-service awards and presentation of the Civilian of the Quarter awards.