Strategic planning meeting brings readiness division, geographic partners together

FORT McCOY, Wis. – Senior leaders from the 88th Readiness Division, along with their counterparts from commands located within the unit’s 19-state area of operations, gathered at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, for a strategic planning meeting May 23.

The 88th RD has been hosting these strategic meetings annually since 2009. During this meeting, the unit’s annual plan and goals are discussed. The two-day event brings each section and directorate of the 88th RD together for day one. During that day, the group reviews the organizational strategic plan and pertinent, measurable metrics for each section.

The 88th RD utilizes the Baldridge Framework Criteria and its strategic plan is focused along those guidelines and each metric is designed to measure elements that support the plan. The 88th is mostly in the cycles of improvement stage within the Baldridge Criteria.

“We want to make sure that what gets measured is managed,” said Charles C. Hudson, chief of staff for the 88th RD. “Process improvement has a direct impact on the outcomes.”

On the second day of the meeting, command teams and senior leaders from units located within the 88th RD area of operations – a region that spans four time zones, 606 units, 277 sites, 579 facilities, 52,000 Soldiers, 2,500 Civilians and 19 states – attended and provided input and questions to 88th RD leaders and directorates on the strategic plan and individual directorates.

“If we just do an internal review and we don’t get customer input, we’ll never get it right,” said Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Reinert, commanding general of the 88th RD. “We want this to be a conversation that we continue going forward.”

That way forward is currently being forged. The 88th was a Regional Support Command until being renamed as a Readiness Division in 2017. The process for that change and what the unit will look like in the future was a big part of the discussions during the strategic planning meeting. Reinert and his team are focused on building partnerships and relationships with the units located within its 19 state region in order to improve the readiness of all units of America’s Army Reserve.

“Our goal is to be helping units work together,” Reinert said, “to create a support network for every Army Reserve Soldier in that area.”

The strategic planning meeting allows the 88th RD to align itself with the U.S. Army Reserve Command mission and to ensure it is prepared to meet the challenges and needs of the future.

“This is not a duplication of effort but a unification of effect,” Reinert said.

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Strategic planning meeting brings readiness division, geographic partners together

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