Town Hall: Inside the U.S. Army National Hiring Days with Maj. Gen. Darren L. Werner

Maj. Gen. Darren L. Werner, commanding general of U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Army Materiel Command, joined the Chamber to discuss the U.S. Army’s current talent recruitment initiatives including the Army National Hiring Days. Werner will also offer insight on the Army’s effort to attract individuals to 150 different career options and 50+ health care specialties, ranging from infantry to intelligence and radiology to cardiothoracic surgery.

TACOM’s Importance to the Region
Three elements of the Army are part of a program here assigned to the Detroit Arsenal. TACOM is the lead element at the Detroit Arsenal for the Army Materiel Command. It’s also shared with the Army Futures Command and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology.

These organizations work together to create funding and priorities to meet Army leadership objectives laddering up to the United States President and Congress. The collaboration of these three programs delivers technology and work acquisition and ensures the readiness and safety of equipment for Army use, with an allocated budget of $30 billion annually. They also focus on research, development, and acquisition. At the Detroit Arsenal, there are about 10,000 people employed across the different commands.

Army National Hiring Days
The National Hiring Days initiative is a way for the Army to share its story with the American public right around the Army’s birthday. “We are looking for our very, very best, and what we do during National Hiring Days is we make an effort to tell that Army story to the local community,” said Werner.

Diverse Career Options
Job opportunities in the Army range from traditional military roles to anything including data analytics, computer programming, robotic engineering, and a full array of medical sciences and practices. Medical professionals currently underway in their careers also have many opportunities in the Army. It houses full health care centers and represents needs in just about every specialty of the medical field including dietetics, physical therapy, dentistry, etc.

In terms of readiness, the Army can be a helpful launching point for any type of career. Terms in the Army can be anywhere from three to five years at a time – and while some continue to reenlist beyond that, many carry on into other career paths with the skills they’ve developed.

Recruiting with a Focus on Modernization
What is unique with TACOM is that the majority of its workforce is Department of the Army civilians, not soldiers, that serve in day-to-day operations functions like contracting, procurement, logistics, and personnel management, for example. The future for TACOM and the Army is similar to where we’re headed with advanced manufacturing technology. A specific area of interest is additive manufacturing, like 3D printing, with projects in the works to develop a system that can fully 3D print an entire tank hull. To that end, the Army is not only recruiting people to operate those machines but also up-and-coming scientists to come on board to support the technological development. TACOM’s proximity to the nation’s hub of the automotive industry presents a number of opportunities and ongoing partnership between the Army and automotive industry as well.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
“The Army is not about the color of your skin or your gender,” said Werner. “It’s about accomplishing a mission. I’m so proud to be part of an organization that creates opportunities for everyone regardless of where they’re from, where they grew up, who their parents are, or how much money they have in their bank account.”

Though these are long-standing tenets in the Army, the importance of DEI matters continues to grow within the organization at all levels.

Learn more at goarmy.com