GRAFENWOEHR, Germany -- The U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr was recently recognized by the Secretary of the Army for having the best environmental program of a U.S. Army installation overseas.
This was the third time Grafenwoehr's Environmental Division has received the prestigious award, having been previously recognized in 2000 and 2006.
Manfred Rieck, chief of the Environmental Division, who has worked for the garrison for more than 30 years, is well-aware of the factors that contribute to an award-winning program.
"Grafenwoehr is successful because of the cooperation between different organizations within the garrison such as the DOL, DPTMS and the schools, but also as a result of our external coordination with the forestry office and the county natural resources protection organization," Rieck said. "We also have great command support. Without that support, it would not be possible to run such a successful program."
"As the federal forest service's point of contact at Headquarters, Installation Management Command, Europe Region, I'm especially pleased to see how the cooperation between the Garrison and the forest service has developed into such a strong and successful partnership," said Wolfgang Grimm, a forester with the U.S. Army Environmental Command in Heidelberg. "The team approach utilizes the professionalism of highly qualified experts for a sound and sustainable environmental management in support of the military mission."
With more than 42,000 Soldiers, families and civilian working and living in the footprint, the Grafenwoehr military community continues to build an infrastructure which demonstrates its commitment to the environment.
"This recognition is representative of what makes so many things in this command so outstanding -- stewardship and partnership," said Brig. Gen. Steven L. Salazar, commanding general of the Joint Multinational Training Command. "Just like we take our responsibility to train Soldiers and care for Army families seriously, so, too, are we committed to being good stewards of the generous, highly complex, yet fragile environmental resources here.
"And like what makes our training uniquely world class -- our multinational training -- our partnership with the Federal Forestry is unmatched and invaluable. Our partnership to be good stewards of our environment is a big part of what makes it great to be at Graf!"
In addition to the command, Rieck and his team have been getting consistent "renewable" support from community members like Elfriede Kean, host nation teacher for Grafenwoehr Elementary School.
Kean, who just finished her 29th year at the school this month, began in the early 1980s by coordinating with Rieck to conduct weekend trash clean-ups and sorting recyclables with her students and their parents.
Now, she incorporates this respect for the environment into the curriculum, which is taught to more than 300 students in grades kindergarten through fifth each year.
Kean stresses a respect for the environment in her students but also makes these lessons fun. She's currently growing a few orchids and an orange tree in her classroom to give her students more intimate exposure to Mother Nature.
"The kids are just 'Wow! I didn't know all of this!' I try to instill that excitement about the environment into the curriculum. It makes it easy to learn."
According to Rieck, having a consistent staff allows the organization to become more familiar with the training area and develop strong relationships with the host nation.
"The key is a team-centric approach," Rieck said.
Members of Rieck's team, like Caecilia Meier, an environmental protection specialist, agreed.
"Everybody contributes and our boss is open to new ideas," Meier said.
The awarded was granted to the USAG Grafenwoehr's Environmental Division for the following accomplishments:
- Consistent realization of compensating measures for projects completed during recent years under the Efficient Basing-Grafenwoehr program.
- Excellent cooperation with German authorities like German Federal Forestry Grafenwoehr and the County Office Neustadt/Waldnaab in conservation of nature and landscape
- Establishment of an Environmental Management System fully meeting the international standard ISO 14001
- Reduction of hazardous waste and associated costs
- Running an exemplary recycling program
- Conducting a comprehensive training and environmental awareness program. For example, activities and events for schools and the U.S. community, a nature trail and hands-on training for Soldiers handling hazardous materials.
- Overall protection measures for natural resources like ground, soil and surface water in accordance with training requirements
- Completion of nature protection measures by military units
- Exchange of experience with representatives from armed forces on an international level
(Armed forces from Germany, Tanzania, South Africa, Bulgaria, Albania and Georgia)
- Excellent command support for the environmental program.
Grafenwoehr's Environmental Division will be officially recognized for the Secretary of the Army award at the Association of the U.S. Army Conference in San Antonio, Texas, in April. In addition, the team will represent the Army as it competes with other military services for the Secretary of Defense Award for the best environmental program. The results are expected in June.
In addition to Rieck, Kean and Meier, team members include branch chiefs Stefan Haertl (nature and soil conservation) and Elisabeth Prem (pollution prevention), as well as Silke Bornemann, Wolfgang Fischer, Herbert Salavs, Margit Ranz, Albert Amberger, Elke Birner, Christian Henle, Philipp Kirsch, Christine Fremuth and Sabine Poerschke.
Willi Zinnbauer and Helmut Bueller (Operations and Maintenance branch) were rewarded for their commendable recycling program, Michael Donahue (Directorate of Logistics) for his hazardous materials management program.
Evelyn Babl, (expert for nature conservation) from the local nature conservation authority of the County Office Neustadt/Waldnaab and Forstoberrat (forest official) Hubert Anton from the German Federal Forestry Grafenwoehr were included in the award nomination for their excellent cooperation with the garrison's environmental program.
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