2-9th Infantry awarded runner-up for 2ID AAME

Photo By Sgt. SeoWon Lee | Capt. Joseph J. Kim, commander of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry (Mechanized), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, shows gratification to his Soldiers for their performances in the 2nd Infantry Division Army Award for Maintenance Excellence at 2-9th Infantry motor pool Camp Casey, South Korea, Jan. 7. Company E won the runner-up in the 2nd Infantry Division AAME and was selected for the Department of the Army finalist out of the three units across the Army.  

CAMP CASEY, 41, SOUTH KOREA

01.07.2015

Story by Pfc. SeoWon Lee 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

CAMP CASEY, South Korea – Soldiers from Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry (Mechanized), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division received certificates of achievement for their exemplary performance during the 2nd Infantry Division commanding general’s Army Award for Maintenance Excellence for fiscal year 2014 at 2-9th Infantry Motor Pool, Camp Casey, South Korea, Jan 7.

The Army Award for Maintenance Excellence is a program used to recognize units that meet the Army maintenance program standards across the board. Maintenance programs include vehicle maintenance, communications maintenance, arms room maintenance, and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive equipment maintenance.

“It’s about readiness,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, commanding general of 2nd Infantry Division, during the opening remarks. “It’s about ensuring that the Soldiers are committed to excellence and that this unit is ready to 'Fight Tonight.'”

To receive the award, the unit conducted self-nomination, and put together a packet of their accomplishments over the fiscal year period. The packets were submitted and reviewed by higher command. Inspections were then conducted to validate the packets. Finally, assessments were made to determine whether or not the unit meets the standard.

“Receiving this award means that we as a unit have come together and tried to meet all the different requirements that the Army has for maintenance, that is from Soldiers as the operators conducting preventative maintenance checks and services on their vehicles during command maintenance and their combat equipment to arms room maintenance where Soldiers conduct PMCS on their personal weapons,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Benjamin W. White, maintenance technician from Company E, 2-9th Infantry, 1st ABCT, 2nd Infantry Division.

White also mentioned the award is not “just a maintenance section award,” but it is a “total unit award” achieved by working together as a team.

“Everybody’s hard efforts and diligence to meet the standard is greatly appreciated and should be rewarded,” said White.

Capt. Joseph J. Kim, company commander of Company E, agreed with White saying their strength comes from a great teamwork.

“Hard work and dedication of Soldiers from bottom-up, NCOs supervising them, officer leadership supervising the program planning and overall technical expertise from the maintenance technician were all combined [to win the award],” said Kim. “This [receiving this award] means my company is ready to go to wars. These are the folks I would rely on if the war breaks out. I really appreciate hard work and dedication of the Soldiers … This shows we can support and sustain the battalion in the maintenance way.”

After receiving runner-up for the 2nd Infantry Division competition, Company E showed great improvement, winning first place for the 8th U.S. Army and U.S. Army, Pacific competitions for AAME. The company was selected as a Department of the Army finalist out of three units across the Army. The assessments will be done by Jan. 29 and results of the final competition will be released in April.

• Date Taken: 01.07.2015
• Date Posted: 01.12.2015 00:52
• Story ID: 151757
• Location: CAMP CASEY, 41, KR