Photo By Staff Sgt. Larry Barnhill | Frederick L. Williams, engineer deputy director, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation...... read more read more
The U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command (USASOAC) named its 2019 Civilians of the Year during an award presentation held Jan. 6, at Fort Bragg.
Frederick L. Williams, deputy director, USASOAC engineer office, was named in the GS-12 and below category and Laura Gates, deputy director, USASOAC comptroller office, in the GS-13 and above category.
Both were previously recognized by their peers and supervisors for their commitment to the organization and mission. The criteria for nomination includes five categories: accomplishments, dedication and commitment, teamwork, reliability, and action timeliness and follow through.
Williams, a native of Princeton, Kentucky, is assigned to the command’s headquarters at Fort Bragg but works at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, co-located with USASOAC’s subordinate units.
He joined the civil service after retiring from a 20-year career as a U.S. Air Force engineer officer. Since then, he has spent 18 years in the federal civil service with his last two years at USASOAC.
Williams expressed his surprise at the recognition after being relatively new to the USASOAC team.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled that my efforts have contributed to the lethality and readiness of our Special Operations aviation forces,” said Williams. “It is a privilege to be part of this team.”
Williams was nominated in part for his management of the military construction program that included 53 future and 12 active construction projects valued at over $832 million dollars. The projects are spread across six different military bases and directly contribute to the training and readiness of the Special Operations Aviation Training Battalion (SOAT-B) and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).
For Williams, the most challenging projects involve special emphasis on minimizing environment impacts. This includes the helicopter Clean Water Rinse System (CWRS) for units at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, where he worked closely with environmental and state offices.
Other efforts during his short tenure include: an air to ground training range, troop aid medical station, rotary wing hangar, company operations facility, a heavy drop parachute rigging facility, readiness facility, and a human performance training center.
William credits his previous experience as a Department of Public Works master planner for enabling his strong partnership with installations. This partnership helped improvements to roads, barracks and training locations move forward.
William’s current focus is the construction of a multi-use helicopter training complex that will allow Special Operations aviators to train realistically on basic and advanced helicopter skills. He said, the training site is expected to be “one of a kind in the world.”
Most projects take years from funding to design to ground-breaking however, when asked about his most rewarding projects, he had one criteria.
“I look forward to the projects that will impact Special Operations Soldiers in the next decade,” said Williams.
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 01.16.2020 19:46 |
| Story ID: | 359527 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Hometown: | PADUCAH, KY, US |
| Hometown: | PRINCETON, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 427 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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