United States Army Installation Management Command - History

History

The United States Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM), was activated on 24 Oct. 2006, to reduce bureaucracy, apply a uniform business structure to manage U.S. Army installations, sustain the environment and enhance the well-being of the military community. It consolidated three organizations under a single command as a direct reporting unit:

1. The former Installation Management Agency (IMA)
2. The former Community and Family Support Center, now called Family and MWR Programs, which was formerly a subordinate command of IMCOM.
3. The former Army Environmental Center, now called the Army Environmental Command (AEC), which is a subordinate command of IMCOM.

Prior to the Installation Management Command, the Army's 184 installations were managed by one of 15 Major Commands. Support services varied – some provided better services, some provided worse. In September 2001, Army Secretary Thomas E. White introduced the Transformation of Installation Management (TIM), formerly known as Centralized Installation Management (CIM), pledging the Army would implement better business practices and realign installation management to create a more efficient and effective corporate management structure for Army installations worldwide. On 1 Oct. 2002, the Army formed IMA as a field operating agency of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM) as part of an ongoing effort to realign installations.

Many of the issues with the 15 major commands (List of Major Commands of the United States Army) holding responsibility for base support was that the structure created many inequities throughout the Army. There were no common standards, consistent services or an acutely managed infrastructure. This created an environment where funding was often diverted from installation support to operations. Additionally, there were too many military personnel conducting garrison support operations rather than mission duties. The creation of IMCOM was a commitment to eliminate these inequities, focus on installation management and enhance the well-being of Soldiers, Families and Civilians.

Centralizing installation management was a culture change in the Army; working through the transfers of personnel and funding issues was difficult. In a large organizational change, IMCOM became the Army’s single agency responsible for worldwide installation management, managing 184 Army installations globally with a staff of 120,000 military, civilian and contract members across seven regions on four continents.