DVIDS – News – Garrison HR leadership shines, winning top prize two years in a row

VICENZA, Italy – For the second year in a row, the U.S. Army Italian Garrison Human Resources Directorate received the “Excellence in DHR Award-Medium Garrison” award from the Installation Management Command. Management was notified a few months ago of their victory.

The IMCOM award recognizes outstanding human resource efforts for garrisons that support the command’s service culture initiative and become a more innovative and efficient organization.

In 2020 and 2021, the medium garrison awarded was USAG Italy.

“I was amazed that we were selected for this prestigious award two years in a row,” said Monika Bunch, Garrison Human Resources Director. “It reflects the adaptability of my team.”

The areas of assessment covered major program achievements, including customer service qualities, innovative actions, information sharing and emerging initiatives; the demonstration of technical competence in the area of ​​human resources followed important highlights of the garrison assessments.

USAG Italy’s DHR team oversees everything from passports to postal services. They process staff actions a variety of other critical documents. They help the command with hiring and managing staff. The team continually seeks to improve through innovation and careful management of its limited resources, Bunch said.

“This was particularly evident in our response to COVID-19 when we were one of the first garrisons to be impacted and we developed and implemented key mitigations that allowed us to continue to fulfill the mission while protecting our staff and customers,” she said. .

As part of its program’s key accomplishments, DHR expanded service delivery during COVID-19 and taught the Small Business Administration how to create and deliver the first-ever Boot to Business courses virtually — now a recurring national event for the foreign staff. Military Personnel Services personnel performed more than 2,100 different types of actions or orders in the past year – responding to approximately 16,000 phone calls and emails from members of the local military community.

During the pandemic, they also created and streamlined the virtual in-process processing procedure for all incoming soldiers, DA civilians, and contractors with a total of 1,487 people in process, 1,177 people in course of treatment, while providing ID card service to 9,629 community members. members and assisting 5,964 clients in the Soggiorno process.

“I’m extremely proud of my team and how they go above and beyond every day to take care of our community,” Bunch said.

Amid the pandemic, a DHR program helped prepare sponsors to properly care for newcomers and their families. Giulio Rigodanzo, the Installation Sponsorship Liaison, led the Total Army Sponsorship Program, offering it a chance to find solutions to alleviate issues with the PCS experience, he said. declared. Weekly sponsor training has certified more than 300 sponsors to assist soldiers, civilian employees and their families during their transition.

“During the pandemic, we rediscovered the importance of having a reactionary sponsor to go the extra mile to help newcomers begin their journey,” Rigodanzo said.

Michela Martinello, manager of the USAG Italy central processing facility, also saw the adaptability of the DHR team. The CPF team was flexible and resilient, to maintain services, she said.

“At the start of the pandemic, when new arrivals were forced to quarantine, CPF set up a virtual method of in-processing, so that they did not lose 14 days and could attend all mandatory in-processing briefings in the meantime, ensuring their readiness as soon as they emerge from quarantine,” she said.

The CPF is a welcome wagon for newcomers, offering the information and directions they need as soon as they arrive.
“I always say that we are the calling card of the garrison,” Martinello said. “We all strive to do our best.”