New Garrison commander highlights Fort Bliss as great place to live and serve
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The new Garrison commander at Fort Bliss has a simple message he wants to get out there — that Fort Bliss is a great place to live and serve.
Col. Brendan Gallagher took over as Fort Bliss’ Garrison commander — the Army equivalent of a city manager — back in July.
Gallagher said one of his main focuses is creating a public affairs campaign called “It’s Better at Bliss.”
“There are so many great things on post and in the City of El Paso,” Gallagher said.
It’s about “educating and informing about all the great things here and push back against misconceptions that are out there,” he said.
Gallagher said he wants to emphasize to soldiers and families who haven’t served at Fort Bliss previously or haven’t been to El Paso in years that “El Paso is regularly rated as one of the safest cities in America.”
Gallagher, a 45-year-old native of Columbia, Maryland, said he has been seeing an increasing trend of soldiers wanting to stay in El Paso after they retire.
“We want to help dispel misconceptions and truly inform the broader community of all the great reasons that this is a fantastic place to be stationed,” Gallagher said. “It is one of the reasons so many people once they retire, choose to stay here of their own volition.”
For soldiers and their families, Fort Bliss offers a blend of great quality of life and an exciting mission as home of the 1st Armored Division and one of the Army’s chief force projection platforms, Gallagher said. One of Fort Bliss’ chief missions is to train thousands of National Guard and Reserve soldiers and units before they deploy for overseas missions, he added.
Gallagher said he is teaming up with Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. David Sweeney to make a series of videos where they get out to different locations in Fort Bliss and El Paso and highlight what the area has to offer.
As Garrison commander, Gallagher oversees a team of more than 850 soldiers and Army civilian employees that provide a wide range of services that make Fort Bliss function as its own city — things like streets, emergency services, parks and recreation and human resources, just to name a few.
Gallagher is a decorated infantry soldier (three Bronze Stars) who has served in the Army’s Ranger Regiment. He also has college degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University.
“This is a terrific opportunity,” Gallagher said. “We are blessed to have a phenomenal team, a diverse team with individuals who are focused on a common purpose supporting the readiness of our soldiers and units and our families and providing top-notch services, whether it’s emergency services, Morale, Welfare and Recreation, human resources and personnel, or a variety of other areas.
“It is an unequaled opportunity to serve on a great team with a very important mission for our Army,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher also says it is important to make sure that Fort Bliss maintains its great relationship with the City of El Paso. One important initiative is streamlining and making the process for civilians to get passes to get on to post as efficient and easy as possible, he said.
“We don’t have any desire or aspiration for Fort Bliss to be its own separate entity; that can’t be allowed to exist,” he said.
Gallagher said his team is also working to leverage the abundant sunshine and excellent year-round climate for the post to be as “energy resilient” as possible.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
