Courtesy Photo | Lt. Col. Matthew Canfield, right presents the Training Areas category 2012 Earth Day...... read more read more
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By Barry St. Clair
24th Press Camp Headquarters
FORT BLISS, Texas – Team Bliss recognized individuals and organizations who have been good stewards of the environment and practiced energy conservation during 2011 during a ceremony at the Fort Bliss Old Ironsides Museum April 24, 2012. The Department of Public Works – Environmental presented winners of each category with 2012 Earth Day Awards for their leadership and careful environmental stewardship during the past year.
Earth Day, which began as a grass roots effort on April 22, 1970 to teach environmental conservation, quickly grew into the worldwide commemoration involving many nations around the globe every April 22. The Army’s Earth Day theme is “Sustaining the Environment for a secure future.”
Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Canfield, Fort Bliss Garrison deputy commander, spoke prior to presenting the awards.
“The word environment comes from the Latin words … that mean ‘in’ and ‘around’,” said Canfield. “To preserve or conserve comes from a Latin word which means to guard, so where it comes to environment, we want to guard what is in and around us.”
“This is a worldwide event we are taking part in,” said Canfield. “We here at Fort Bliss are participating in a geo-strategic effort where environmental advocates and strategists come together for the same purpose.”
“We as an Army want to do the right thing morally and as a part of our national strategy to protect our environment,” Canfield continued. “More than a billion people in 192 countries celebrate Earth Day in some way.”
The two most prominent individual awards are to Military individual of the Year, Supervisory and Military individual of the Year, Non-Supervisory.
First Lieutenant Travis Nicolette assigned to 29th Engineering Company, 1-36 Infantry Battalion, 1st Armored Division practiced and taught good environmental stewardship while with the engineers. Later he was able to implement similar policy when he moved to operations at battalion.
Sgt. Keith Lovely assigned to 127th Aviation Support Battalion, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division received the non-supervisory award for his impact teaching others of the importance and regulatory compliance required during military operations.
The unit award for no environmental incidences during the past year was awarded to 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. The 2nd Brigade is unique because in addition to training for deployability as a heavy combat team, they are also conducting the semi-annual Network Integration Evaluation, a mission to assess the capabilities of new equipment. Their semi-annual brigade level field training exercises provide valuable information to the senior military decision makers and manufacturers that provide leading edge equipment to an expeditionary Army.
Lieutenant Colonel Donovan A. Rickel, Deputy Commander for 2nd HBCT accepted the award.
The Dining Facility at 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division received the award for the Outstanding Contribution to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Award. The dining facility has made environmental protection and energy efficiency their focus. The facility has solar panels that provide energy to the facility along with energy efficient lighting that conserve resources.
Considering that in 2009, the recycling center was the main thrust of recycling and conservation on Fort Bliss, we have come a long way in a short time. Together we can make a difference. Do your part. Reduce. Reuse. Re-allocate. Recycle.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2012 22:55 |
| Story ID: | 87510 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 137 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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