Col. Erich C. Spragg, Garrison Commander
A change in communication
Greetings, Team Meade.
In 2008, a mentor of mine stated that “within chaos lies opportunity.”
Not sure if this was foreshadowing my time as a garrison commander, but it definitely rings true today.
To say that COVID-19 has profoundly impacted us as individuals and a society as a whole is an understatement. It has required us to fundamentally change how we interact with one another, execute our missions and daily battle rhythms, and to some extent, how we go about our daily personal lives.
Although an unwelcome and chaotic disruption, many of our mission partners were successful in identifying opportunities despite COVID. Take, for example, virtual collaboration tools. The sudden emergence of such tools allowed commanders and directors to flatten communications within their respective organizations and ensure the greatest reach possible.
Like many of my peers, I have noticed that participation rates have increased significantly once we began virtual meetings. Hmm…
With that being the backdrop, I want to recognize that this edition of the Soundoff! newspaper will be the last one published under our current civilian enterprise contract.
As the contracting process timeline for a new publisher will cause a gap in Soundoff! publication, we have decided to make considerable use of the digital forms of communications (social media, digital news and newspapers, podcasts, etc.) that have matured for our use at Fort Meade.
We are taking strategic advantage of this changing environment to transform and synchronize our public affairs communications platforms under “Digital Meade.” We have been working toward ensuring our ability to provide you with the information you need regarding this great installation. So this sudden opportunity to make more efficient use of the mature and emerging technologies now gives us a window to put in place our digital footprint.
Soundoff! has served this community well for 71 years and is part of Fort Meade’s rich history. But the great content, which you would normally read in the newspaper, will now be part of Digital Meade. We are opening the aperture to the different ways of meeting your informational needs in the best and most responsive way possible.
The Fort Meade installation, its numerous tenant partners and our DoD organization are all making big changes – in people doctrine, places of work, operational doctrine and supporting infrastructure.
A major focus is on making the best use of advances in technology for multi-domain operations. We will change how our public affairs operation communicates to reflect the speed, accuracy, consistency and synchronization of news and information being directed to our Fort Meade community, and better accommodate the communications needs of our tenant partners.
You will see a concerted and coordinated use of digital and electronic platforms to help build a more ready and resilient community at Fort Meade.
As in any transformation of this magnitude, we will be making adjustments centered on the requirements identified by you and other members of the Fort Meade community.
Forward Meade!