WEBVTT

00:01.360 --> 00:02.830
- I'm James Steven Niederriter.

00:02.830 --> 00:04.650
I'm the Deputy Garrison Commander

00:04.650 --> 00:06.120
at U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

00:06.120 --> 00:09.330
As a civilian I've been working in DOD

00:09.330 --> 00:14.250
for 11 years now, since
I retired in late 2008.

00:14.250 --> 00:16.550
You kinda equate the
Deputy Garrison Commander

00:16.550 --> 00:19.110
to what a city manager does.

00:19.110 --> 00:22.350
So, it just encompasses
not only the things

00:22.350 --> 00:23.990
outside in the community,

00:23.990 --> 00:26.020
but the overall operations,

00:26.020 --> 00:27.530
day-to-day for the garrison,

00:27.530 --> 00:32.250
to include budget
formulation and execution,

00:32.250 --> 00:34.860
you know, operations-type things,

00:34.860 --> 00:37.559
public affairs and those types of things.

00:37.559 --> 00:40.976
(light orchestral music)

00:55.550 --> 00:58.730
I first joined the Army in 1984,

00:58.730 --> 01:03.110
so I was a Army engineer back then.

01:03.110 --> 01:05.940
And shortly after I joined the Army,

01:05.940 --> 01:08.010
about 18 months later,

01:08.010 --> 01:10.130
my military occupational specialty

01:10.130 --> 01:12.660
was removed from the inventory,

01:12.660 --> 01:14.840
so I was asked to reclassify.

01:14.840 --> 01:16.970
So at that time I reclassified to a

01:16.970 --> 01:18.710
personnel administration specialist,

01:18.710 --> 01:22.850
so that was the old personnel
administration centers

01:22.850 --> 01:23.720
or the PACs.

01:23.720 --> 01:26.970
Now today those are the S1s.

01:26.970 --> 01:31.023
So I served about nine
years in that capacity,

01:32.078 --> 01:34.200
and then I became a warrant officer

01:34.200 --> 01:36.740
after my ninth year of active duty,

01:36.740 --> 01:39.320
and then eventually retired
as a warrant officer

01:39.320 --> 01:41.163
after 26 years of active duty.

01:42.090 --> 01:44.100
I spent about eight years

01:44.100 --> 01:46.730
as an ironworker, building bridges.

01:46.730 --> 01:49.930
So you gotta understand first
of all where I came from.

01:49.930 --> 01:52.110
So I was born and raised in Pittsburgh,

01:52.110 --> 01:52.944
the Steel City,

01:52.944 --> 01:54.860
and back in the '70s

01:54.860 --> 01:59.860
that was kinda the blue collar
hardworking environment.

02:00.410 --> 02:01.640
That's what my father did,

02:01.640 --> 02:04.230
so I kinda followed in
my father's footsteps,

02:04.230 --> 02:07.300
but I did have something
missing in my life,

02:07.300 --> 02:09.460
and that is service to my country.

02:09.460 --> 02:13.470
So both my wife's parents and brothers,

02:13.470 --> 02:16.940
and as well as my father
served in the military,

02:16.940 --> 02:20.575
so it was the right time
for me to join the military

02:20.575 --> 02:23.711
and see what I can make outta that.

02:23.711 --> 02:26.360
So I was retired for a
short period of time,

02:26.360 --> 02:28.610
and what I missed mostly was the teamwork.

02:28.610 --> 02:31.420
So I mean, being part of the Army,

02:31.420 --> 02:33.100
you take off the uniform,

02:33.100 --> 02:36.390
you have an emptiness inside yourself

02:36.390 --> 02:39.470
because you're used to
working as part of a team,

02:39.470 --> 02:40.810
the Army team, right?

02:40.810 --> 02:43.260
So being able to come back to work

02:43.260 --> 02:45.220
as a Department of the Army civilian

02:45.220 --> 02:48.180
made you a valuable member of
the team that you just left.

02:48.180 --> 02:50.520
So you just continue to do what you did,

02:50.520 --> 02:52.740
except you're not wearing a uniform.

02:52.740 --> 02:55.600
Back when I came in the
military it was much larger.

02:55.600 --> 02:58.060
Okay, so you've seen more soldiers

02:58.060 --> 03:00.500
and less Army civilians at that time.

03:00.500 --> 03:02.640
And so after the Wall came down,

03:02.640 --> 03:04.160
the Cold War ended,

03:04.160 --> 03:06.562
the military got smaller, okay?

03:06.562 --> 03:09.840
In addition to that, many
of the military positions

03:09.840 --> 03:12.650
were converted to Department
of the Army civilians.

03:12.650 --> 03:15.060
So today you have a
smaller military structure

03:15.060 --> 03:17.100
but a larger civilian structure.

03:17.100 --> 03:18.810
And the two have to work hand-in-hand

03:18.810 --> 03:20.120
to accomplish the mission,

03:20.120 --> 03:21.960
and that's what's important about teamwork

03:21.960 --> 03:24.860
when it comes to active
duty and civilians.

03:24.860 --> 03:27.760
That's the main difference
I've seen over the years.

03:27.760 --> 03:29.950
If I had to do it over again,

03:29.950 --> 03:31.420
I wouldn't change a thing.

03:31.420 --> 03:33.698
It was the best decision
I made in my life,

03:33.698 --> 03:37.250
and I had someone that
I've been married to

03:37.250 --> 03:40.120
for 40 years pushing me along the way,

03:40.120 --> 03:43.740
and pushing me up the
hill and always trying

03:43.740 --> 03:45.850
to make me better than what I am.

03:45.850 --> 03:49.170
And without her, I would
have never got to this level.

03:49.170 --> 03:51.610
So I do thank her for everything

03:51.610 --> 03:54.883
that she's done for me
during our entire career.

03:55.780 --> 03:57.543
I'm proud to be an Army veteran.

03:58.394 --> 04:00.960
I'm proud to be a soldier for life,

04:00.960 --> 04:03.023
and I will always be a soldier for life.