Resiliency and efficiency are critical when it comes to managing the Army’s installations, the commanding general of Army Installation Management Command said.

Speaking during a recent Association of the U.S. Army Hot Topic titled, “Transforming Army Installations: Our Foundations of Warfighter Readiness and Lethality,” Lt. Gen. Omar Jones highlighted the importance and complexity of managing and leading what amounts to 104 cities around the world.

“We’re the Army’s home,” Jones said. “Every installation is different,” but each installation also delivers the core services that soldiers and their families rely on, he said. This includes child care and other family programs, fitness centers and housing, he said. Army installations also support the readiness and deployability of their tenant units, Jones said.

“Our installations are always going to be platforms for readiness, they’re always going to be platforms where we project power anywhere in the world,” he said.

An installation’s resilience is increasingly important, Jones said. “Resiliency from severe weather, resiliency from disruption to our utilities, resiliency from cyber disruptions, resiliency from adversary attacks—those threats are higher today than arguably ever,” he said. “I would argue that installation resilience is essential to Army readiness.”

Also essential are resources and partnerships, Jones said. “Running 104 cities is not cheap,” he said. “Our installations are always going to compete for resources with everything else the Army does.”

Installation Management Command must make sure it is spending every dollar as efficiently as possible while ensuring Army senior leaders and decision-makers understand what installations need, where the service might be taking risks and how to mitigate them, Jones said.

When it comes to partnerships, Army installations are ecosystems, he said. They partner with tenant units, local, state and federal agencies and with community groups and supporters.

Faced with growing threats and tight budgets, Army installations must be more efficient in “every single thing we do,” Jones said. They also must be able to provide support and resources more quickly and efficiently, he said.

“Installation management is absolutely about Army readiness,” Jones said. “What we do each and every day supports quality of life for the Army’s people and readiness for the Army.”