Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris | Matt Bigger, a heavy mobile equipment repair specialist at Area Maintenance Support...... read more read more
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WHEELING, W.Va. – For Matt Bigger, a heavy mobile equipment repair specialist at Area Maintenance Support Activity #109 here, safety is part of his ethos as an Army Reserve civilian employee and Soldier.
“Safety is extremely important; we have a lot of equipment that’s very heavy and can be really dangerous if you’re not taking the proper precautions,” said Bigger, a Pittsburgh native who also serves as a staff sergeant with the U.S. Army Reserve’s 336th Military Police Battalion. “If we see something that’s wrong we correct one other, and make sure nobody’s putting themselves in a position where they’re going to get hurt.”
Bigger and his co-workers were recognized March 2 when Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division, presented AMSA #109 with a Safety Excellence Award.
“When you don’t have accidents, you have more productivity,” Kok said, said Kok, who manages more than two-dozen AMSAs throughout the nation’s 13 northeastern states. “But it also tells me about the nature of your shop; it also tells me your leadership, and it tells me how well your employees are working together.”
Bigger and his co-workers have not had an accident or injury in more than three years, which led to their recognition by the 99th DIV(R) Safety and Occupational Health Office.
“It’s not easy to go three years without an accident,” said Kok. “That just doesn’t happen unless you have a good, well-oiled machine that’s working on all cylinders, and everybody is working together as teammates instead of a bunch of individuals.”
We all look at each other as extended family around our shop,” add Bigger, who received a Commander’ Coin from Kok for the exemplary job he has done as an AMSA #109 employee. “We all try to look after one another and keep a close-knit group.”
Bigger and his co-workers serve as Amy Reserve dual-status technicians who service and repair units’ vehicles, small arms, communications-electronics gear, engineering and other equipment in order to enhance unit readiness and help America’s Army Reserve remain the most capable, combat-ready and lethal federal reserve force in the nation’s history.
Auto mechanics started as a hobby for Bigger, who used to work on the family car. Thanks to the Army, it is now his career.
“I’ve always been hands-on, and I grew up working on vehicles, so it kind of went from a hobby into a job,” said Bigger, who has been working at AMSA #109 for the past 15 months. “I’ve learned a lot coming up through the Army.
“There’s something rewarding about being able to start a job and seeing it all the way to the finish,” he continued, “to take something that’s broken and walk through the whole process and see it from start to finish.”
To learn more about Army mechanics, visit https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/browse-career-and-job-categories/mechanics.html.
| Date Taken: | 03.02.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2018 13:35 |
| Story ID: | 268141 |
| Location: | WHEELING, WV, US |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURGH, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 235 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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