Leadership Challenges at Sierra Army Depot

It’s good to be home. I’ve been on travel all week to Sierra Army Depot (SIAD) in Northern California. This post will discuss some of the challenges faced on the trip.

SIAD is a TACOM depot that’s been converted from storing missiles to a number of completely different tasks. They were successfully removed from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list which kept them from being closed down. Part of my mission is to workload SIAD and bring them business.

I store equipment there because it’s free. Other Army locations charge storage but SIAD can offer no cost storage, and they profit from loading and unloading railcars, performing maintenance, etc. As part of building they’re workload, I’ve transitioned them to pulling parts from vehicles as well.

Previously, equipment specialists with mechanic experience would travel from TACOM to SIAD to remove parts needed off of tanks in storage. I’ve spent a lot of time developing a training plan to educate SIAD to successfully take over these duties.

I can see from my visit that I’m failing.

First of all, they don’t have the correct tools. All tools at SIAD are managed by a central facility, which is a long trip from where my vehicles are stored. For whatever reason, parts pull employees are not getting the correct equipment.

To remedy, I will purchase ten sets of General Mechanics Tool Kits. To avoid these being managed by the central SIAD tool room, I have designated them as TACOM tools that will be stored at the Long Term Storage site. I’ve tasked SIAD to develop a plan of managing the tools so they’re properly accounted for and employees have access.

The second issue is that due to high turnover, there are few properly trained employees pulling parts. The folks at SIAD do an excellent job completing the mission and pulling the necessary parts. However, part of not having the proper tools told us that folks were not using procedures from the Technical Manuals (TMs).

In response, I will be sending them two sets of TMs. SIAD has been tasked to manage these manuals in a way that allows and encourages all employees pulling parts to identify the procedures, safety precautions, and proper tools required. In addition, I will send a team of equipment specialists to SIAD quarterly to train any new hires on proper procedures and how to utilize the TMs.

The last issue I recognized was the lack of communication and this was the most worrisome. SIAD had made some assumptions that were taking extra time to pull assets. At the same time, they were pulling some assets that were obsolete.

I realized I need to provide better guidance. My requests need to be more specific and I need experts to help me in making decisions. I also need to send teams out there more often to make sure questions are answered and we have better visibility of what’s going on.

This was one of the most successful trips I’ve been on because we can make major progress and make an immediate impact on the Soldier. In the past I’ve tried to save money and avoid travel. I’ve learned that at times I have to spend money to save money; I have to have boots on the ground to keep communication open and processes running effectively. I’ve seen where I can improve on my relationship building and decision making to be more successful.

Historical Leaders Who Would Impact Your Organization

I've had leaders that I've been impressed with and leaders who've made it very hard for me to be motivated enought to get out of bed every morning. This leads me to think; if any leader in history, past or present, could be my boss, who would I want it to be?

Napoleon Bonaparte is my choice. Being a part of a military organization, I would want someone of a great military mind. Napolean was close to ruling the entire world during the height of his conquests. I've read that in his return from exile, he faced hundreds of thousands of his former men who were commanded to stop his much smaller force from advancing. He met his former Generals on the battlefield and gave one of the most inspiring speeches in history. He told them that he forgave them for coming to fight him in battle. At the end of the speech instead of going to battle, Napolean's former soldiers joined his forces.

Yeah...that's who I want leading me.