FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — Cheers erupted within the ballroom of the Gregg-Adams Club as John G. Royster, Master Planning Division branch chief, Department of Public Works, Fort Gregg-Adams, was recognized for his 50 years of service to Fort Gregg-Adams at his retirement ceremony at the Gregg-Adams Club January 30.

“John is a leader that is characterized primarily as someone who is approachable, resilient, and empathetic to all,” said Andrew Menefee, real property chief in the Department of Public Works. “I truly have been blessed to have called John not only my supervisor, but my friend over the past 12 years.”

Soldiers, civilians, friends and family from throughout his career all gathered at his ceremony.

During the ceremony, Royster received many awards and recognitions. He was awarded the Certificate of Retirement, a two-star general letter, recognition of 50 Years of Service in the Government award and several others.

Royster expressed that working on Fort Gregg-Adams has allowed him to do what he is most passionate about and has been a wonderful experience.

“I have built life long lasting friendships and enjoyed working doing what I love on our installation for the last 50 years,” said Royster.

Royster was born in 1942 in nearby Petersburg and grew up in Hopewell. In 1960, he graduated from Hopewell High School and went on to earn his degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1964.

During this time, he also served in the U.S. Army Reserve for six years at the 80th Division in Richmond.

Royster began his career after college by working for two and a half years for the City of Richmond’s Department of Public Works. He left that job to work the next eight years for the City of Hopewell.

In 1974, Royster began working at Fort Lee, now known as Fort Gregg-Adams.

“I started out as an engineer,” Royster said. “Once I got here and they saw my resume, they asked me to be the master planner.”

While in his role, Royster played a major part in the implementation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure plan that would dramatically change the post’s appearance.

“One of my biggest accomplishments is having had a hand in over 160 new facilities being built here on our installation,” said Royster.

Under BRAC 05, the installation became the central location for sustainment training and doctrine. This included the Transportation Center and School moving from Fort Eustis; and the Ordnance Center and School moving from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. The Quartermaster Center and School remained in place.

One addition included construction of the Ordnance campus previously referred to as Fort Lee North. This became home to more than 4,500 students and instructors daily. The new facilities included five barracks, ten training bays and one of the largest dining facilities in the Army.

The complex required 2.5 million square feet of training facilities with a total cost of more than $700 million. Highlights included a 272,000-square-foot tactical support equipment department, 75,000-square-foot dining facility and a state-of-the art medical facility.

To accommodate these schools and commands the Corps constructed the Sustainment Center of Excellence, or SCoE, headquarters building.

This became the central location for the Sustainment commanders and staff which would serve as the administrative building for all joint centers of training located on the installation.

The SCoE combined with the Army Logistics University, now known as the Army Sustainment University. This allowed the installation to become the Army’s premier logistics base.

Once built, the schoolhouse was home to three military colleges and an academy: the Logistics Non-Commissioned Officer Academy; the Army Logistics Management College; and the Logistics Leadership College, all three already on the installation and added in the newly created Technical Logistics College.

“I helped manage and decide what the outside of the buildings would look like once built,” explained Royster. “I wanted our installation to have a specific theme, all the way down to the infrastructure of the building.”

The transition from the Army Logistics Management College to the Army Logistics University brought in a change of an average daily student population of 350 to 2,300 and a faculty and staff average from 172 to nearly 500.

The university’s campus included a new, four-story educational building with 207 classrooms; a logistics research library that is open to the public, a simulation training center, eateries and other onsite resources and centers.

The SCoE streamlined the Ordnance Corps by co-locating all ordnance classes and assets under the new Ordnance Center and School allowing the two brigades to become one and training departments to be consolidated. This allowed more efficient training for Soldiers.

Another addition included the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence. Prior to the addition, the installation trained Army and Marine Corps culinary students. With the addition, Air Force students from Lackland Air Force Base, as well as Navy students from Great Lakes Training Center were able to join.

To fill the requirements, additional classrooms and administrative spaces were incorporated into the current culinary training facilities. These additional classrooms provided training space for the increased student load and any unique requirements, i.e., a galley training area for the Navy students.

The construction also included a new dining facility and barracks to house the new students, and an additional culinary field training area constructed for the Air Force students that was built next to the Army and Marine culinary field training sites.

“I wanted military and their families to come on to our installation when they first arrived and say, “Wow, these building are so nice, there are a lot of trees and flowers and this is a beautiful installation,” said Royster.

As a result of BRAC 05, the Defense Commissary Agency consolidated and relocated three of their regional offices to the DeCA headquarters. A 75,000-square-foot addition was added to DeCA’s headquarters building to house the additional 250 DeCA employees who relocated.

The Defense Contract Management Agency, along with its 631 employees and contractors, was relocated to building 10500 which was remodeled for DCMA.

With all the construction for additional personnel, the Corps’ Norfolk District is also constructing 12 more barracks, along with three new dining facilities, which will house and have the capability to service over 8,000 residents.

The BRAC expansion made a significant economic impact on the surrounding communities.

The expansion brought nearly 15,000 new residents to the Tri-Cities region by 2011. With the influx of more than 13,000 additional employees, contractors, students and their families, the estimated economic impact was approximately $1.7 billion.

After retirement, John plans to spend lots of time with his wife, five children, 22 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

“John truly will leave a long-lasting legacy for this Installation and the many people he has impacted over the years,” said Menefee.

To see photos from John G. Royster’s Retirement Ceremony, copy and paste link into browser: https://www.flickr.com/photos/200001948@N07/albums/72177720323798332/