Photo By Staff Sgt. Jordan Sivayavirojna | U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Swem, program coordinator for the Department...... read more read more
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LATHAM, N.Y. – Maintenance Soldiers from five New York Army National Guard units are in the running to win the Army Award of Maintenance Excellence.
The Army selected the five as semifinalists in December 2021 and the on-site evaluations at their armories took place from March 12 to 20.
The five units, nominated across three specific categories, are:
- The 145th Support Maintenance Company, on Staten Island, New York, part of the 369th Sustainment Brigade. The unit is being evaluated in the medium unit category for deployable units.
- The 204th Engineer Battalion’s Forward Support Company, based in Binghamton, New York, and assigned to the 53rd Troop Command The unit is competing in the small unit category for deployable units.
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company, of the 427th Brigade Support Battalion, which is part of the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Syracuse. The maintenance team there is competing in the small unit category for deployable units.
- Combined Support Maintenance Shop-C in Rochester, New York. This unit, which supports units across the region is competing in the installation support category.
- Field Maintenance Shop-13 located in Binghamton, New York, which is also competing in the installation support category.
The Army Maintenance Excellence Award, created in 1982, recognizes Army units with demonstrated excellence in maintenance operations.
Nominations come from across all Army components, with up to 157 nominees across a dozen maintenance categories.
The Army National Guard is eligible for up to 40 nominees in four categories, so having five semi-finalists from New York is a significant achievement on its own, explained Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tyler Clough.
Clough is the Battalion Maintenance Officer for the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion and the maintenance award program coordinator.
While visiting the units, the evaluators met with unit personnel and reviewed maintenance records, policies and procedures.
“The Phase 2 evaluation was more in-depth than what I expected, but we were prepared and I felt good about the evaluation when the team left,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Morgan Gorman, the supervisor of Field Maintenance Shop-13 , known as an FMS for short, in Binghamton.
Nominated units were screened for accomplishment of unit mission, weapon system and equipment readiness and deployment participation and successes, among other criteria within the Command Maintenance Discipline Program.
The program is the basis of the award evaluation. The program ensures commanders are fiscally responsible, maintain and account for their equipment, and follow established Army Supply procedures, Clough said.
“I’m here to evaluate their overall Command Maintenance Discipline Program process and gauge the readiness of the unit,” explained David Hausler, the Department of the Army program manager for the award during the unit visit to the 145th Maintenance Company on Staten Island, on March 20.
The Soldiers being inspected said they were confident of their chances and appreciate the opportunity to showcase their hard work.
“This began with us submitting a packet for them to come and evaluate us,” said Capt. Rachid Kabbabe, commander of the 145th Maintenance Company. “We will be ranked on how well our unit functions, (our) safety procedures and several other tasks that prove our proficiency as a maintenance unit.”
Evaluations looked at all the key functions of the unit, from maintenance management, to supply, arms rooms, tools, shop and testing equipment, environment management and the unit battery programs.
The inspections also looked beyond the basic policies of a shop, looking to see if the organization is developing future maintenance experts, Gorman explained.
“Our training program develops employees into the future maintenance subject matter experts and leaders of the New York Army Guard,” Gorman said.
“The advantage of being an FMS as opposed to a National Guard unit is that we are here all year around,” he added.
“We rotate additional duties within the FMS, so our future leaders know how to manage multiple programs. I think that is what the evaluation team wanted to see, junior leaders managing the maintenance programs that are in place.”
Unit leaders agreed the external evaluation provided insights for units to improve.
“From a leadership perspective, this evaluation was an outstanding opportunity to take an honest inventory of our maintenance operation,” Kabbabbe said.
“The great part about the onsite visit was not only were we evaluated by an external source, but provided valuable insight to better ourselves,” said Capt. Tim Anzovino, commander of 204th Engineer Battalion Forward Support Company in Binghamton.
“They evaluated us in great detail, but also shared their experiences and knowledge with the Soldiers. That makes the organization better as a whole,” Anzovino said.
“A lot of Soldiers think they are merely doing their jobs and don't take the time to realize how talented and dedicated they really are; or how much of an asset they are to the New York Army Guard as a whole,” Anzovino said.
Just getting considered for the competition is a pretty big deal, said Maj. Mike McLean, the executive officer for the 369th Support Battalion.
“I came down here today to cheer on the 145th,” he said while visiting the Staten Island evaluation on March 20. “It’s an honor to even be looked at for such a prestigious award.”
The Department of the Army plans to announce the winners by the end of May 2022. Winning units will receive a plaque and a Certificate of Achievement signed by the Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2022 10:10 |
| Story ID: | 418318 |
| Location: | LATHAM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 350 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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