Courtesy Photo | Company B, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division...... read more read more
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AL ASAD AIRBASE, Iraq — Two maintenance companies deployed in Iraq with the same advise and assist brigade received awards for maintenance excellence Dec. 16 from the Army's largest command and preeminent provider of campaign-capable land forces.
Companies B and G of 307th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division (Advise and Assist Brigade), were each winners in the fiscal year 2009 United States Army Forces Command Army Award for Maintenance Excellence competition.
"Having two companies selected as FORSCOM AAME small category winners is a tremendous accomplishment for 1st Brigade," said Lt. Col. Andrew Danwin, commander of 307th BSB.
"It is a very tough competition every year, and it truly recognizes the hard work of all the paratroopers involved in maintenance operations within this brigade — the operator, the maintainer, the shop clerk, warehouse specialist and maintenance control supervisor," he said.
Danwin predicted competition would remain close as it moved to the Department of Army level.
The awards are based largely on a unit's operational readiness rate, a number that measures how much of its equipment is ready to operate any given month.
Company B, 307th BSB is the field maintenance company for 1/82 AAB, according to Chief Warrant Officer Jason Kovatchitch, a maintenance control technician in charge of maintenance operations. The unit provides automotive support, allied trades, generator and small engine repair, armament support, electronics repair, and vehicle recovery, and is currently advising and assisting Iraqi army and military transition teams in Al Anbar province, Iraq, on vehicle maintenance, driver's training, welding, and electronics maintenance.
Company G's award is particularly meaningful because the unit they support, 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, transformed from field artillery to a maneuver unit over the past year in preparation for its current mission.
"We are used to working with [High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles] and howitzers, and now we work with six different variants of the [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle]," said Chief Warrant Officer Richard Rabbett, Kovatchitch's counterpart in Company G.
The two companies will now compete at the DA level in early 2010, for which there can be only one winner per category. Company G took second place at the DA level two years ago. The same year, they won FORSCOM and all of Iraq, said Rabbett.
This year's FORSCOM win is a first for Company B, said Kovatchitch.
"I attribute the unit's success to the strength of the noncommissioned officers and the willingness of the paratroopers to complete the mission at any cost," he said. "I have never seen such strong leadership."
The Phase I DA board convenes to evaluate nominee packets Jan. 5-16, 2010, and Phase II (on-site) evaluations are conducted Feb. 17 to March 31.
In the past, the top 3 DA awardees were presented the award in Washington, D.C.
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.26.2009 01:56 |
| Story ID: | 43154 |
| Location: | AL ASAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 355 |
| Downloads: | 227 |
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