News

Fort Knox focusing on civilian workforce development, recruitment efforts

February 14, 2019 By krda

Fort Knox is a gem of the local economy and its new Gemstone program is aimed at building greater skills among its civilian workforce, Jim Iacocca says.

Iacocca, CEO of the Knox Regional Development Alliance, updated area business leaders Tuesday on several recent developments at Fort Knox during the monthly meeting of the Radcliff Small Business Alliance.

He said the U.S. Army Human Resources Command headquartered on post recently created the Gemstone program, which is an in-house professional development program intended to improve the Army civilian workforce.

Through the program, civil service employees strengthen their leadership abilities and skills through interpersonal skills, oral communication, written communication, creativity and innovation, strategic thinking, conflict management, leveraging diversity, team building, decisiveness, problem solving, partnering, and influencing/negotiating, and other transformations stimulating commitment to personal and professional development, according to information from the U.S. Army.

Iacocca also said the Department of Defense is considering acquiring Kentucky subterranean mines that could be used as training facilities, which could come under the arm of Fort Knox depending on their vicinity. Iacocca did not name the mines being considered.

He said Fort Knox also is looking to build a new water tower, but the plan is on hold because the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration disagree on the type of radar that needs to be at Godman Airfield. Iacocca said Godman could lose one-third of its approachability if a new water tower is built on Fort Knox without proper radar.

He also referenced recent recruiting efforts the Army is pursuing, including using social media and e-gaming to reach younger audiences.

The Knox Regional Development Alliance is a private organization established to promote and support Fort Knox’s mission. It is directed by a local board and maintains an office in Radcliff.

Telling the Fort Knox story in D.C.

February 1, 2019 By krda

2019 outreach efforts are already underway with retired Brig. Gen Iacocca’s recent visit to Washington D.C. with retired Col. Blaine Hedges, Executive Director of the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs.

During the trip, the retired Brig. Gen. Iacocca met with Congressman Guthrie, Senator McConnell's staff, Senator Paul's staff, House Arms Service Committee, Congressman Yarmouth's staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense Accessions, Amry Operations Resource Management, ACSIM staff, Army Operations Training and Director of Military Personnel Management and discussed various matters pertaining Fort Knox, including additional missions well suited for the installation, its strong energy program and subterranean training opportunities in the surrounding region.

Investor Annual Meeting

February 1, 2019 By krda

KRDA honors Retired Maj. Gen. Bill Barron for Service to Organization, Community

January 24, 2019 By krda

First Annual meeting of investors highlights KRDA’s efforts, Fort Knox’s positive position

The Knox Regional Development Alliance (KRDA) honored retired Maj. Gen. Bill Barron at the organization’s first annual meeting of investors today. KRDA board chairman Ray Springsteen called Barron a tremendous leader who was pivotal in the establishment of the organization that is charged with protecting and promoting Fort Knox.

“General Barron’s steadfast leadership in establishing KRDA and as the longtime executive director of the CORE Committee has been instrumental in protecting this region’s most significant economic engine – Fort Knox,” said Springsteen. “Today we take a moment to express our gratitude for General Barron’s contributions to this organization and most importantly to our community.”

In 2016, Barron oversaw the KRDA capital campaign. In 2017, he served as the newly established organization’s interim CEO, leading the search for a permanent senior executive. When the board selected retired Brig. Gen. Jim Iacocca for that position, Barron then served as KRDA’s vice president for army affairs throughout 2018.

Springsteen said in addition to helping the region’s economy continue to prosper, Barron has demonstrated an unmatched commitment to soldiers and their families, always lending his expert counsel to the various community endeavors in support of them.

“I call it an affair of the heart,” said Barron. “I love this community and our soldiers. It has been an honor to serve both.”

Barron said the community’s long-standing support to Fort Knox soldiers and families was why KRDA nominated the region to be designated a 2018 Great American Defense Community (GADC). When the Association of Defense Communities (ADC) selected the Greater Fort Knox Region as one of only five in the nation, Barron said, he couldn’t have been prouder.

“I was thrilled to shine a national spotlight on the region,” said Barron. “A welcoming and supportive community is critical to ensuring military installations retain and grow their missions. I knew this community was among the best in the nation and this recognition confirms that in a big way.”

Barron was part of a delegation of community leaders who attended ADC’s national summit in Washington, D.C. this past summer where the 2018 GADC communities were honored.

Iacocca expressed his appreciation for Barron’s years of service and shared that Barron will continue to serve the organization in a volunteer capacity on the KRDA board of directors.

“Our nation benefited from General Barron’s 38 years of military service, and this region has been the beneficiary of his extraordinary community service for the past 15 years,” said Iacocca. “I was privileged to have General Barron by my side during my first year on the job as we worked to protect and promote Fort Knox and grow defense-related business in our region.”

During the annual meeting, Iacocca also shared highlights of KRDA’s work in 2018 that put Fort Knox in a better position for growth.

He pointed out the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows Fort Knox to tout its successful energy resilience efforts and provides $26 million in funding for the digitization of Fort Knox’s Yano Range, the first phase of a $52 million project.

Iacocca worked closely with state and federal officials to add the language about Fort Knox’s energy program.

“Fort Knox’s world-class energy resilience efforts makes it more attractive for growth, most especially for data and cyber security missions,” said Iaccoca. “With the 2018 NDAA, Fort Knox has greater latitude to promote its energy program and KRDA will certainly do so as well.”

Iaccoca thanked the investors for their support to KRDA.

“Your commitment to this work speaks volumes,” said Iacocca. “It sends a strong message to the Department of Defense and our elected leaders that this community takes the future of Fort Knox seriously. I am excited about our continued progress in the coming year.”

Iacocca receives 2018 Salute to Veterans honoree

November 7, 2018 By krda

Brig. Gen. (Ret) Jim Iacocca was one of 18 military veterans selected as a 2018 Salute to Veterans honoree! Louisville Business First recognized military veterans who’ve served our country and made valuable contributions to the local business community.

Congressional, Army leaders praise success of Fort Knox energy resiliency

October 29, 2018 By krda

Source: The Lane Report

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Congressional, Army and Fort Knox leaders are calling the installation’s energy resilience test on October 24 a huge success.

Prior to this most recent test, Fort Knox engineers had performed several smaller shutdown tests to the post’s individual substations. A handful of other installations have also attempted smaller shutdowns.

For the October 24 test, the plan was for Fort Knox energy provider Nolin RECC to shut down all of Fort Knox’s substations, unplug from Louisville Gas & Electric — the electric and natural gas provider for the region — and independently stand up the Fort Knox grid, something no other Army installation has tried.

“At 10 a.m., the external power will get turned off to Fort Knox, and we’ll stand up on our own decentralized power generation at all of our substations, to include emergency generation,” said R.J. Dyrdek, energy manager for Fort Knox’s Directorate of Public Works, the day prior. “All circuits will be back up and running by hopefully no later than 10 after 10.”

Shortly before the start of the test, Nolin RECC officials expressed optimism that the outcome would be favorable.

“The thing to keep in mind is that anything could happen, but we are reasonably prepared and have a contingency for just about anything we can think of,” said Greg Lee, Nolin RECC’s vice president of systems operations. “We do test this in the middle of the night every six months.”

In the room sat U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie of the 2nd District of Kentucky; Jack Surash, acting deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Energy & Sustainability; and Maj. Gen. John Evans Jr., commander of U.S. Army Cadet Command and Fort Knox. While they waited, the three asked questions of Lee and Dyrdek.

At 9:58, Dustin Ward, Nolin RECC-Fort Knox operations manager, began the power-down sequence to the substations, and Ward called LG&E to request disconnection from the grid around 10:01.

Everyone waited.

About a minute later, the room went dark. Seconds afterward, a generator outside the control station hummed to life and power came back to the control station. Lights flashed and flickered on the large monitors in front of the group as the system automatically started the reboot process.

Lee had explained to those in the room that the last few tests they performed have yielded little to no complications during the reboot process, although he admitted that sometimes computer systems hang up.

“We are cautiously optimistic that things are going to go quite well today,” said Lee, as the wall clock moved to 9:55.

Within a couple of minutes after the reboot, a problem surfaced. The power generation station for U.S. Army Human Resources Command wouldn’t close. Lee suggested the engineer try to close it manually.

Everyone continued to wait.

The call came in a little later that the breaker wouldn’t latch in. Ward suggested they continue working the issue. Finally, about 14 minutes into the test, the station locked in and started powering up.

“It’s closed in. Everything’s working as it should now,” said Ward. “We just had to make a quick reset. Something just caught up in the logic, I assume, but it’s closing its breakers now.”

The group of VIPs gathered up afterward to praise the Fort Knox team for their efforts in performing a successful test.

“It took a little longer than we anticipated but [Lee] suggested using a little grease, and that’s a good thing,” said Dyrdek. “I’m pretty excited about everything [being] back up and running.”

Pat Walsh, director of DPW, said about 2,000 facilities total, including 1,500 homes, get their power from the Fort Knox grid. Dyrdek said that with the kind of reserves they can tap into from heat, natural gas and other forms of energy, Fort Knox can actually run independently for an indefinite amount of time during an emergency. The current minimum, based on Army regulations, is 14 days.

“This shows that things can work in D.C.,” said Guthrie, after completion of the initial phase of the test.

Guthrie and other Kentucky congressmen were instrumental in getting legislation included in this year’s National Defense Authorization Act that assured Fort Knox’s continued focus on energy resilience.

“It makes Fort Knox unique, and it makes it better for other missions, and for opportunities for growth,” said Guthrie. “And it’s safety and security for our Soldiers, which is first and foremost.”

Surash said that while he hasn’t had the opportunity to get around to every installation working on energy resilience, he was very impressed with what Fort Knox accomplished.

“The capabilities at Fort Knox seem to be one of the best with respect to energy resiliency that I’m aware of,” said Surash. “I was happy to see that they actually tested that capability. It’s one thing to have a capability, but until you test it, you really don’t know what’s going to work and what’s not going to work.

“As it turns out this morning, the system worked as designed.”

News

Connect With KRDA

Get The Newsletter