Photo By Staff Sgt. Luke Koladish | Soldiers from the Forward Support Company, 54th Engineer Battalion load equipment and...... read more read more
BAGHDAD - As the Forward Support Company, 54th Engineer Battalion, Camp Striker, Baghdad packs the last of their bags and heads back to Germany, they will take with them not only the satisfaction of a 15-month mission complete, but the honor of being the Army's first deployed unit to receive a Combined Logistics Excellence Award.
Earlier this month Sgt. Paul Carter made the trip to Alexandria, Va., to accept the Maintenance Excellence Award in the Small Unit, Modified Table of Organization and Equipment Category on behalf of his unit.
"It's easy to get jobs done, but it has to be done the right way, to standard," Staff Sgt. Alford Reed, Columbia, S.C., said.
The FSC operations sergeant added, "Specialist and below, without the hard work of these Soldiers executing to the standards they were given, we would not have made this achievement happen."
The evaluation covered nearly every aspect of the unit's mission, to include maintenance, operational environment, pollution prevention, professional development, community and humanitarian projects.
"The title of Maintenance Award creates a misconception," 1st Sgt. Daniel C. Canez, Mesa, Ariz., explained. "Maintenance is key, but not the whole criteria. It should be called 'Organization Excellence'."
Sponsored by the chief of Staff of the Army, the CLEA are awarded annually. In May of 2008 the unit was nominated by the European Command. For the first time in history of the awards, evaluators traveled to Iraq to conduct an on-site inspection.
One of the biggest challenges that faced the FSC was the operational environment. Their mission spanned over hundreds of miles across adverse road conditions in southern Iraq, with up-armored vehicles that required careful, thorough maintenance of the doors, brakes and brake suspension due to the extensive wear.
"We had to adapt to three different iterations of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, field equipment changes, and modify our fleet," Canez said.
"We developed a gunner restraint system before the Army even fielded the harness."
The radio repairer designed and installed radio mounts for the bulkier man pack radios, while welders used their expertise and class fours supplies to add protection to vehicles.
"At first it was good to see the organization grow, but to see how it positively affected our battalion and units here, makes me proud of how my soldiers executed," Capt. Penny Bloedel, Winfield, Kan., FSC commander said.
The maintenance platoon kept all prime movers, trailers, night vision devices and communication equipment more than 95 percent fully mission capable.
The security platoon made a significant contribution to the unit's humanitarian effort by helping to establish a burn center adjacent to the convoy support center in Scania.
"They transported battalion medics and supplies to provide aid to burn victims, and in some cases the security personnel assisted the medics in treating the wounded," Canez said.
In October the 110-Soldier-strong unit will be one of two units representing the Army for the Phoenix Award. They will compete against nominees from the Air Force, Navy, Marines and civilians in the 2009 Secretary of Defense Awards.
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2009 05:58 |
| Story ID: | 35709 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 368 |
| Downloads: | 346 |
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