September 5, 2023 —Written By: Bob Gettings, KaLex Resident
Effective supervision, training, and quality oversight are the keys to maintaining the KaLex campus in tiptop condition, according to Dave Hough, who recently joined the staff as the Maintenance Manager.
Based on a 37-year career in the Marine Corps and a three-year stint as VMI’s Director of Auxiliary Services, Dave has impeccable qualifications for his new duties.
His last assignment at Marine Base Camp Lejeune was to oversee the training of members of joint Navy-Marine expeditionary forces to undertake dangerous military missions around the world. He views himself as a “fixer” and is proud of the fact that the joint task groups he trained produced many flag grade officers (rear admiral or above) and lost no combat troops during the many training exercises he supervised. Dave and his wife own a home on Ross Road overlooking the Kendal campus. His wife is an adjunct professor of mathematics at VMI. They have four adult children, all of whom are active-duty military officers.
In his spare time, Dave enjoys outdoor activities and hanging out in his cabin in the woods. Asked for his initial impression of KaLex, Dave said he has enjoyed working with residents and staff. Residents, he added, are friendly, welcoming, and appreciative of tasks performed by the maintenance staff.
Fulfilling the dozens of work orders received each day is challenging, Dave said, due to maintenance staff vacancies, but he hopes to recruit and hire qualified replacements in the coming weeks.
His long-range aim is to establish a maintenance team with complementary job skills who take pride in their workmanship, and, as the Marines might put it, a sense of esprit de corps. This goal, he warned, won’t be achieved overnight. In talking with Dave, however, you realize that this is a guy who can make it happen!