Photo By Staff Sgt. Sean McCollum | Sgt. 1st Class Mark Maness, a former accountability officer for petroleum at Camp...... read more read more
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HERNDON, Va. — Whether it's an aircraft, ship or automobile, today's military runs on petroleum. Proper handling of fuel could be the difference between life and death for many servicemembers, and a Guardmember was recently recognized for his contribution to the cause at a recent awards ceremony.
Sgt. 1st Class Mark Maness, currently an Active Guard Reserve medical manager for the Missouri National Guard, won the Tactical Operations Soldier of the Year for his work as the accountability officer for petroleum while deployed to Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, during the 10th rotation of Kosovo Force. He received the distinction during the Joint Services and Industry American Petroleum Institute awards ceremony here Tuesday.
"There was a lot of stuff that we knew was wrong that we needed to fix," said Maness, recalling when he arrived at the camp in 2008. Bondsteel's fuel depot had undergone a fire in recent years, and Maness was determined to clean it up. Using his more than 11 years experience as a refueler in an attack aviation battalion, he revitalized the fuel management program.
"We rebuilt the lab and everything [fuel related] ... to make it safer for the people at Camp Bondsteel and also the surrounding community," Maness said. "We took photographs, we documented every step we took and we submitted it to the National Petroleum Institute."
The NPI then compiled the submission packets and gave scored them based on factors such as accountability, cleanliness, safety and timeliness. For winning, Maness received a coin, a framed plaque and a congratulatory letter from Lt. Gen. Mitchell Stevenson, the deputy chief of logistics for the Army.
"It's a great honor to even be considered against these guys who are active duty and do it every day," Maness said.
Also at the awards ceremony, the National Guard Bureau named the 178th Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight "Best in the Air National Guard" in their field.
"We have worked hard during the past two to three years to move our squadron toward a high performance organization. I cannot think of a more fitting way to recognize our efforts than by having Senior Master Sgt. Tom Oswald and his team recognized for their dedication to our mission," said Lt. Col. David Corry, the 178th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander. The squadron is part of the 178th Fighter Wing in Springfield, Ohio.
The squadron had other accomplishments last year, including an "excellent" rating by the 19th Air Force Education and Training Command Inspector General Team during the 2008 Operation Readiness Inspection.
"They are an incredible team, and our unit is very proud of them and what they do for us every day to support the missions of the 178th and the Royal Netherlands Air Force 306th Detachment F-16 Student Pilot Training Programs," said Col. Mike Roberts, the 178th commander, in the nomination packet.
(Air Force Staff Sgt. Tina Maddock of the 178th Fighter Wing contributed to this report)
| Date Taken: | 04.30.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2009 09:41 |
| Story ID: | 33040 |
| Location: | HERNDON, US |
| Web Views: | 256 |
| Downloads: | 235 |
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