GRAFENWOEHR, Germany-- The 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command and its subordinate units were presented one of the Army's highest peacetime unit awards April 2 here at the Tower Barracks gym.
The JMTC was awarded the Army Superior Unit Award for having provided unique and advanced training to units in preparation for their deployments in support of overseas contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and NATO peace supporting missions in Kosovo.
Joint Multinational Training and Education Directorate (now the Combined Arms Training Center), Joint Multinational Readiness Center and the NCO Academy also placed streamers on there guidons. Streamers are decorations attached to military flags to recognize particular achievements or events of a military unit or service.
The Army Superior Unit Award is a decoration established by the Secretary of the Army in 1985 and is awarded when outstanding meritorious performance in a difficult and challenging mission is carried out under extraordinary circumstances.
The JMTC's Headquarters and Headquarters Company and the sited units displayed outstanding devotion and superior performance of their mission to provide relevant and realistic training to both U.S. Soldiers and Allies in the European Command and African Command areas of responsibility, according to the award citation.
"The uniqueness of this streamer is that this unit did not deploy, but it prepared multiple units over many years to deploy in support of ISAF and NATO operations in Afghanistan," said Command Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey R. Huggins, the Command Sgt. Maj. of JMTC. "So it's difficult to award a unit for superior unit status when you don't have the combat experience to back it up."
JMTC plays an impact on the readiness of deploying units by planning and executing a series of field training exercises and live, virtual, constructive and gaming simulations, Huggins said.
As U.S. Europe's training command, the JMTC provides leadership to seven directorates: the Combined Arms Training Center, Grafenwoehr Training Area, International Special Training Center, Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Joint Multinational Simulation Center, the NCO Academy and Training Support Activity Europe.
Each of these directorates provides training and training capabilities to U.S. forces, NATO Allies and partner nation militaries. The JMTC's Joint Multination Readiness Center, for example, trained a total of 31,286 military personnel -- which includes 14,305 multinational soldiers -- during the period recognized by the award.
In addition to the award ceremony, JMTC's Capt. Melissa L. Lewis relinquished command of Headquarters Company to Capt. Brandon W. Davis.
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