Garrison employee wins IMCOM Stalwart Award

For the second year in a row, a winner of Installation Management Command’s most prestigious award calls U.S. Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz home.

Janna Henderson, USAG RP Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Non-Appropriated Funds Support Division chief, was named an IMCOM Stalwart Award winner for 2019.

“I’m very surprised and never thought I had a chance,” Henderson said. “I was shocked and honored. To be one of only ten people in the world this year, I’m amazed my name is even mentioned. To me, it validates that what we’re doing every day is exactly what we should be doing.”

The Stalwart Award is given to approximately a dozen employees worldwide each year who distinguish themselves from their peers and leaders as outstanding IMCOM civilians and exceed the call of duty to achieve Army and IMCOM objectives.

“Janna is simply phenomenal! She is a professional who represents everything that is right about being a leader in our garrisons,” said Tommy Mize, Installation Management Command-Europe director. “She cares deeply about our Soldiers and their families and is selfless in her efforts to support them. She continually improves the programs she manages, elevating them to levels that set the standard for others to follow, while remaining committed to the core purposes of our morale, welfare and recreation programs. All of us in IMCOM-Europe congratulate Janna and thank her for her dedicated service to the community.”

Henderson’s division administers the largest FMWR operation in Europe, overseeing performance and financial operations of 80 front-door facilities, managing more than $40 million in annual revenue and returning more than $3 million in earnings each year to support Soldiers and their families.

“Janna Henderson impacts Family and MWR well beyond her own financial support division,” said Gary Burton, USAG RP Family and MWR director. “Her willingness to accept challenging assignments to support wherever needed has provided significant dividends to the overall FMWR mission.”

Burton added that Henderson also has the personal capacity to maintain outstanding performance within her own areas of expertise and simultaneously learn new work areas and immediately add value to those functions.

Henderson has also taken on significant additional responsibilities. She became the project officer for the struggling bazaar program several years ago, and created systems, processes and customer excitement that transformed bazaars from underperforming events into a financial and community cornerstone of FMWR’s revenue and earnings success. Pre-COVID, the six bazaars generated $2 million in revenue for DFMWR, which translates to money for local Soldier and family programs.

“Janna continuously examines our effectiveness, seeks and develops better procedures for our organization in order to achieve powerful and lasting results,” said Ingrid Osewalt, garrison Family and MWR assistant director. “She recognizes the financial implications of all management decisions. She promotes and inspires productive cooperation. Janna is always able to develop creative solutions to challenging problems.”

Henderson has been with the organization for six years. She came to Kaiserslautern with her husband, who was in the U.S. Air Force. She originally worked for the Stars and Stripes newspaper as an advertising account executive before moving over to the garrison.

“We’re very lucky to have her,” said Dr. Kevin Griess, USAG Rheinland-Pfalz deputy garrison commander. “When Janna takes on a project, you can have complete confidence it will be a success. She’s a shining star in the garrison and this award validates that.”

Once the COVID pandemic started, Henderson established procedures for 100 percent accountability of the more than 600 FMWR employees, ensuring supervisors communicated with their workforce on a daily basis.

She also activated the garrison Arts and Crafts Center and organized volunteers to sew more than 4,000 face coverings for FMWR personnel, other garrison personnel and a neighboring garrison within IMCOM-Europe.

Henderson said that while she’s excited about the award, she doesn’t feel like she does anything special. She said she’s happy to be part of a fantastic team.

“For me, what’s important is coming to work and loving what you do,” she said. “I love my role here, I love my job, I love the people I work with. I think it all starts with leadership and goes from there and this organization is like a big family.”