Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Army chief of staff, gives the keynote address at the 6th Annual Combined Logistics Excellence Awards ceremony in Richmond, Va. During his speech, Casey remarked that we depend on logisticians so much but don't say thank you...

RICHMOND, Va. (June 24, 2010) -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. recognized outstanding Army logisticians today at the 6th Annual Combined Logistics Excellence Awards held in Richmond, Va. The ceremony acknowledged multiple units' achievements in the categories of deployment, maintenance, and supply.

Aca,!A"This is an opportunity for me not to just recognize the winners here, but to recognize the whole Army logistics community,Aca,!A? said Casey. Aca,!A"We depend on you so much, but we donAca,!a,,ct say thank you near enough.Aca,!A?

Casey continued by drawing on personal experience. Aca,!A"As a 1st Armored Division commander, I used to tell my logisticians - IAca,!a,,cd point to the patch, and IAca,!a,,cd say: without you the track doesnAca,!a,,ct turn, the cannon doesnAca,!a,,ct fire, and there is no thunderbolt,Aca,!A? said Casey.

During his speech, Casey also reflected on the Aca,!A"herculean effortsAca,!A? Army logisticians have made in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aca,!A"Even under the best conditions - and as logisticians know, those never happen - our logisticians still have had to do miraculous things to make that drawdown in Iraq work and that plus up in Afghanistan work.Aca,!A?

Event host, Lt. Gen. Mitchell H. Stevenson, deputy chief of staff of the Army, G-4, introduced Casey and remarked that the Chief was in the company of great people and great service. Aca,!A"This award ceremony is about showcasing units,Aca,!A? said Stevenson, Aca,!A"The efforts of a collective body to serve a country at war. These units took no shortcuts to ensure our ArmyAca,!a,,cs readiness.Aca,!A?

This year 82 units were selected from over 300 submissions. Judges from the U.S. Army Transportation, Quartermaster, and Ordnance Centers traveled around the world to conduct on-site evaluations of units that had been nominated by their commands.

For information about nominating a unit for next year's CLEA, visit the <a href="https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/84">HQDA G-4 AKO page</a>.

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