{"id":45,"date":"2010-11-22T21:04:32","date_gmt":"2010-11-22T21:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/armyrotc\/"},"modified":"2012-12-14T17:50:41","modified_gmt":"2012-12-14T17:50:41","slug":"alumni-in-the-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/alumni-in-the-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni In The News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MG Jones to retire as innovative change agent for better<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\u00a0\"MG<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A silhouette photograph of a gear-laden Soldier walking into the desert sunset hangs on the office wall of Maj. Gen. Reuben D. Jones as a constant reminder of what drove him to serve 34 years in the U.S. Army.\u201cI often talk about that Soldier on that wall right there,\u201d Jones said while pointing at the photo. \u201cThat\u2019s the thing that kind of motivates me. It has motivated me for a number of years \u2013 ever since that guy gave it to me.\u201cI put it on my wall when I came here from the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command because that represents what I have been as a leader. I kept the Soldier as a center of my focus for my entire career. I didn\u2019t care what nationality, what ethnic mix, what sex, religion, I didn\u2019t care. I didn\u2019t care about military occupational specialty, and that photograph brings that out.\u201cIt brings it out because I don\u2019t know if that Soldier is male or female. I don\u2019t know what their specialty is. I don\u2019t know what their religion is. It\u2019s just a silhouette of a Soldier. So when I pop on the light, even here, that reminds me of whom I serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 34 years of serving Soldiers and their Families, Jones officially will retire Jan. 1, 2013, from the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, where his final assignment was deputy commanding general for operations. His farewell and awards dinner was Dec. 1 at a San Antonio hotel and his retirement ceremony was Dec. 3 at the historic Fort Sam Houston Quadrangle.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty percent of those Soldiers have a family, so they fall into my support window,\u201d Jones continued. \u201cAnd I\u2019ve used that over my career to really drive my energy, my creativity, my connection with people and ability to be with people \u2013 I use that as my rally point. And when things get tough, I just look at that Soldier and say, \u2018You\u2019ve got another ounce or two to give before the sun goes down because those Soldiers fight and win our nation\u2019s wars.\u2019 Generals don\u2019t do it, but those Soldiers do. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve balanced and pivoted on for a number of years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along the road from his birthplace in West Point, Miss., Jones, 56, made a lot of significant stops and many meaningful programs were launched on his watch.<\/p>\n

Jones is particularly proud of his work with Survivor Outreach Services, which allowed him to personally reach out and point survivors of fallen Soldiers in the direction of assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating a virtual environment for survivors, that\u2019s powerful,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you get down to some of the things that I\u2019m really proud of, it really boils down to some of the things I\u2019ve done with survivor assistance \u2013 improvement in the casualty system \u2013 things that touch real lives. That is a mission I\u2019ve been on for a number of years, even before I became a general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones generated energy for the Army Family and Community Covenants, which pledged the Army\u2019s commitment to support Soldiers and their Families and resource programs to provide them a quality of life commensurate with their service.<\/p>\n

As executive director of the Military Postal Service Agency in Alexandria, Va., Jones helped automate post offices and reduced mailing time to deployed Soldiers, assuring everyone received a ballot for the 2008 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Jones developed a single-page Enlisted Record Brief, complete with the Soldier\u2019s photograph. He helped the Army become first in the military to smart phone enable Army families with the Army One Source Locator, Army Family Action Plan Issues, Mobile MWR and Money Matters applications while at the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazing,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAmazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise for his automation of the evaluation system for personnel actions and the selection board system, a couple more of Jones\u2019 claims to Army fame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big thing that has changed in the Army for me, as a human resource Soldier, is we\u2019ve gone from stubby pencil to automating much of the data we use to support Soldiers and families,\u201d said Jones, who was commissioned in 1978 through the ROTC program at Jackson State University, where he earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology. \u201cDivision has changed, but getting programs and showing the result of the good use of technology to support them, it\u2019s been hard because often no one wants to give resources for it. But over my career, I\u2019ve been at the forefront \u2013 sometimes I call myself \u2018The Mad Innovator\u2019 \u2013 because the Army allowed me to push the envelope to show that we can have improved systems without a lot of resources \u2013 and they\u2019re working.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Army has allowed me the opportunity to have fun innovating and modernizing processes, and it didn\u2019t cost a lot of money. People would say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s think outside the box.\u2019 There wasn\u2019t any money to think outside the box because when you think outside the box, it costs money. So I would tell people, \u2018Let\u2019s look inside the box because everything we need is probably in there. We can reshape and reallocate in order to deliver things.\u2019 And that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his efforts, Jones received several awards, including an American flag that flew over the Pentagon, a Mississippi flag, an IMCOM Stalwart Award and The Order of Saint Maurice Medallion, along with several parting gifts. His wife, Linda, received a White Plume award \u2013 the highest medal of achievement for support of MWR \u2013 and The Shield of Sparta Medallion. She also surprised her husband with a portrait of him that she painted.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III presided over Jones\u2019 retirement ceremony, during which Jones received a Certificate of Appreciation signed by President Barack Obama, a Distinguished Service Medal, a retirement certificate and pin, and an Adjutant General Corps Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never easy to say farewell to a respected colleague and friend,\u201d Austin said. \u201cHowever, we are certainly grateful for the opportunity to come together and to reflect and thank Reuben and his wife Linda for all they have done for our Army, our Soldiers, our wounded warriors and their families over the course of what has been a truly remarkable career and service to our Army and our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt goes without saying that Reuben has had a tremendous and lasting impact on our Army and our personnel community. We are deeply grateful for his leadership, his hard work, his innovative thinking, and for his demonstrated commitment to our most important asset, our people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones often represented the Army at funerals of fallen warriors, including when he represented the Army Chief of Staff at the burial of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Vernon Baker, the last living African-American veteran of World War II, at Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll remember that for the rest of my time,\u201d said Jones, who noted that his photo appeared the next day in The Washington Post. \u201cBeing a part of all those activities made me feel good about being an Army senior leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another touching moment recently occurred when Jones was invited back to his birthplace as a Veterans Day guest speaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to my hometown that I\u2019d never been in since I was born,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWent back there for the first time in 56 years, and I was the guest speaker. That was a wonderful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 family moved from West Point to Jackson, Miss., during the first month of his life when his father took a job in nearby Vicksburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had an opportunity to go back,\u201d he said. \u201cAlways wanted to go back, and I finally got a chance to go back. And I took my father, Louis W. Jones Sr., with me. We got a chance to take a three-hour drive, just me and him, going through some of the main roads and back roads of Mississippi from Jackson to West Point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s just the tip of the opportunities that our great Army has afforded me to go places and to represent it,\u201d Jones added. \u201cI\u2019ve met some of the world\u2019s most famous entertainers; got a chance to spend time with Muhammad Ali in London. His wife said: \u2018Muhammad is going to take a picture with the general,\u2019 and I said: \u2018Wow.\u2019 I\u2019ve studied at Harvard, all because of the Army. I\u2019ve been to NASCAR races. I\u2019ve been to football games. I have been to the White House to meet with the First Lady\u2019s staff to shape programs that support Soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones tackled one of his greatest challenges as commander of the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command, where he learned how to work with non-appropriated funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is probably the most challenging job the Army can give to a leader: to be in charge of the non-appropriated fund world,\u201d Jones said. \u201cYou are the CEO of a $3.5 billion business. I often tell people that we weren\u2019t out there to make money, but the truth of the matter is in order to deliver services, we had to. That money is the tool that allows you to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing into the non-appropriated funds world, you just have to learn the rules because it is a very powerful tool of using Soldiers\u2019 dollars to operate the things that Soldiers like. The big challenge was making sure that you didn\u2019t do anything illegal when you use those funds, but it\u2019s a wonderful tool to give things back to Soldiers with their own dollars. You can execute quicker, faster, better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones most wants to be remembered as an innovative change agent who made things better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be remembered as a great Soldier,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a Soldier who was an innovator, a Soldier who served his country well, a Soldier who cared about families, a Soldier who motivated people during very, very tough times. I want to be remembered as giving my all to preserve organizations, and I want to be remembered as a change agent for better because change is change, but better is better, and I think I\u2019ve been a part of making things better.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, Jones simply hopes to improve his golf game. He is scheduled to begin class Jan. 2 at the Professional Golfers Career College in Orlando, Fla. PGCC claims to be the only school that guarantees golf five days a week \u2013 class until noon and golf until dusk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do that for one semester,\u201d Jones said with a sly grin. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll do it so I can be like some of the kids when I went to school. They had a car, and they had money. I\u2019m going to have a car and I\u2019m going to have some money and I want to have some fun as a student again. That\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do for one semester only.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones will then transition to his next phase of life, the one where wife Linda gets 51 percent of the vote on what he does next.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s really excited,\u201d he said. \u201cShe had 49 percent and the Army had 51. Now, with the change in status, she will have the lion\u2019s share of that vote.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MG Jones to retire as innovative change agent for better \u00a0\u00a0 SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A silhouette photograph of a gear-laden Soldier walking into the desert sunset hangs on the office wall of Maj. Gen. Reuben D. Jones as a constant reminder of what drove him to serve 34 years in the U.S. Army.\u201cI often talk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":387,"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45\/revisions\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jsums.edu\/arotc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}