Q&A: Fort Bragg garrison sergeant major talks Bragg name change, housing and roads
Command Sgt. Maj. Gregory Seymour has spent most of his Army career at Fort Bragg.
He started out as a cannon crew member under the 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, and worked his way up as a howitzer section chief, platoon sergeant and first sergeant under the battalion.
His last assignment was as operations sergeant major for the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery.
On Feb. 24, Seymour assumed responsibility from Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Loehr to become the senior enlisted adviser for Fort Bragg’s garrison, while Loehr moves on to his next Army assignment.
In his new role, Seymour works with Col. John Wilcox, Fort Bragg’s garrison commander, to help oversee the day-to-day operations on post.
Seymour spoke to The Fayetteville Observer last week about his first two months in his new role.
What does it mean to be back at Fort Bragg in this new role?
I usually tell this joke that when I first got stationed at Fort Bragg, Michael Jackson had a No. 1 hit on the pop charts, and Michael Jordan probably got his third ring, but I've never left. I've been here since 1997. I feel like I'm in an iconic role. When I was 19 years old and I crossed the threshold to Fort Bragg, home of the airborne and special operations, never in a million years did I ever think that I was going to be the garrison sergeant major, so it's a humbling and full circle assignment to manage this space along with my colleague Col. Wilcox.
Coming up in June, there’s going to be a new name on post. What are you seeing behind the scenes?
When I first stepped into a role, one of the first things I wanted to know and understand was the message of how we got here. Once I got the briefings and had a better understanding of how we got to "Liberty," I 100% stand behind the process, and especially the Gold Star mom saying that "my son fought for liberty." That word literally describes everybody who has fought out of this installation and deployed over the years, from the past to the present to the future, and the ones who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. We’re in the process of constructing Liberty Park. That will symbolize everything from the beginning of Camp Bragg all the way through the transition to Fort Liberty. It will also capture conflicts that the installation has participated in. It's basically a way to make sure that we don't forget our past.
More: Fort Bragg to rename Reilly Road, plus other updates on the renaming to Fort Liberty
What are you seeing going on with family housing and barracks?
Corvias is increasing its funding in critical unfunded areas of the housing, which includes landscaping, roads and obviously certain housing areas. As far as the Smoke Bomb Hill (barracks) issue, it's templated for I believe the August or September time frame when hopefully those barracks should come down and we start the process of rebuilding some new ones.
More: 'Military-directed move': What are the costs of Fort Bragg's substandard barracks?
Fort Bragg has an agreement with the North Carolina Department of Transportation for road repairs. Are there any projects coming up for the spring and summer?
The agreement allows us to contract (with NCDOT) for work that is about 60% of the cost that it would cost for a DOD contractor. So range roads like Manchester and Plank are in our service agreement. It’s probably going to take the next three to five years to get the roads back to where they need to be.
More: Fort Bragg road repairs
Anything else to add? What does it mean to have that community interaction within the Garrison?
If you want to retain talent, the No. 1 person who has heavy decision-making is the family. We've teamed up with our (directorate of Morale, Welfare and Recreation) and opened up a couple of gyms that are 24 hours … Col. Wilcox and I walk the neighborhoods to interact with families and see what’s on their minds. We try to take their ideas and implement that. They have good recommendations on how to better the quality of life on this installation.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What to know about Fort Bragg garrison's command sergeant major
