JBLM, Weldon perfect match

  • Published
  • By Don Kramer
  • The Northwest Guardian
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  It would be difficult to better prepare an officer for the duties of deputy commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord than with the background of Col. Jerry K. (Kenny) Weldon II. He is a career civil engineer officer who has served as a facility planner, readiness officer, environmental program manager, housing programmer and facilities operations commander.

The first JBLM deputy is dual-hatted; Weldon still commands the 62nd Mission Support Group, responsible for seven squadrons, 1,500 military and civilian workers and a budget of $40.7 million. But now, he also maintains an office on Lewis Main in the JBLM Headquarters.

"The thing my career field teaches you a lot about is how to manage a base from a master planning perspective, and ... how to manage resources, both people and money," Weldon said.

It is a demanding environment that requires systemic thinking for simultaneously devising, managing and executing a variety of plans.

"Those skill sets blend in really well with what I'm being asked to do right now," Weldon said. "You've got to understand the daily tactical execution of managing a base, but you also have to be able to think forward five, 10, possibly 20 years from now about what needs to be in place in the future. And then you have to work the how-to-get-there piece, which is the resources."

Weldon earned a civil engineering degree from the Air Force Academy, having been recruited originally by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a tight end. He reasoned that the Air Force Academy was closer in Colorado Springs and could play football there, too.

He had played baseball, football and basketball in high school, receiving scholarship offers from small colleges in the latter two. But he shared true passion with the residents of his small agricultural hometown of Stephenville, Texas, for only one sport.

"You've got to understand Texas football," he said. "'Friday Night Lights' was the kind of community I grew up in."

He quickly learned that the minimal study time he had devoted to earn good grades in high school wasn't enough to meet the high academic standards at the academy. On the advice of his parents and others, he quit football after two years to focus on his demanding engineering curriculum.

His redirected priorities paid off in grades and recognition for his leadership traits. As a "firstie" or senior, he commanded a squadron, about 120 cadets at the time.

Within weeks of graduation, he had married his fiancee, Carrie, of Dalhart, Texas, and reported to his first duty assignment at Bergstrom, Air Force Base, Texas. Weldon planned to leave the Air Force at the end of his five-year commitment, but a transfer to Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, after four years, where he took charge of a combat engineering skills team, helped change his mind. While stationed at Honolulu, his twin children, Kyle and Kayla were born at Tripler Army Medical Center. They have continued a family tradition by attending Texas A&M, where they are juniors in the school's veterinary science program.

Three early mentors contributed to Weldon's staying in uniform and becoming the officer he is today. An Air Force civilian and retired colonel, Ralph Daniels, took him under wing at Bergstrom, Col. Don Lyon invited him to serve in Hawaii and Master Sgt. John Garcia at Hickam all played large parts in the forming of Weldon's military values that he has carried ever since. Weldon counsels young officers to try to make a difference every day by staying in the moment.

"It's important that you do your very best today because that's what you're controlling. That's what you're doing," he said. "Your ability to perform or lead or produce doesn't count tomorrow because you're not there yet. If you take care of today, the rest of it will take care of itself. That doesn't mean you don't have to plan for the future, but there are those who get too wrapped up in it."

Another concept he stresses to subordinates is the "mission-ready Airman," a holistic view of service members.

"An individual needs to be sound technically, physically, mentally and spiritually," Weldon said. "When you have balance in your life, you are able to perform your mission consistently and at a high level. If you are lacking in one of those four areas, you are out of balance and you're not on your game ... Our structure allows us to then take those (balanced) individuals and use them as a part of a team. That is what makes us the best air force or army in the world."

Weldon has put his leadership skills into practice at all levels of the Air Force, from command of a civil engineer squadron to deputy mission support group commander. He served on the Air Staff, and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

He said among the 12 joint bases created under the Base Realignment and Closure, JBLM is unique.

"I'm very pleased to see the positive attitude about how good it's going to be to be a joint base, (but) I don't think people appreciate the significance," he said. "When you look at the other 11, none has the combination of a full-up C-17 Globemaster III wing with Stryker brigades in one fence line. That has created a national asset that isn't like the other 11. There is no installation like this now in the Department of Defense. That for the Army and Air Force from a strategic perspective, is very exciting."

Weldon counsels patience to see to fruition the complex marriage of cultures.

"I don't think people are seeing yet what will become very good installation support programs for the joint base; This is going to take years to mature," he said. "We're talking about organizations that have developed over decades to get where they are today, coming together in a single structure that have policy differences, resourcing differences. That's a tremendous amount to sort through.

"I think we're going to be successful, but I think it's going to take some time. We need to be patient, but we need to stay committed and focused on what we're doing. I think there are still a lot of people who say this can't be done, but my dad always told me: 'Can't never could.'"

Weldon said he has confidence in the people charged with the responsibility of planning and executing the progress toward a functioning joint base.

"I am tremendously impressed with the civilian workforce within the garrison, the leadership there, the folks here at McChord. The relationship between the garrison and the group, and the corps and the wing, is at an all-time high. It's going to be really good."