Two Lake City Employees Honored with AMC award

Joint Munitions Command Public Affairs

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. - Two Lake City Army Ammunition Plant employees have been selected as two of the ten Louis Dellamonica Award winners this year.

LCAAP Commander Lt. Col. Christopher Day and LCAAP Thomas Buechler received the award June 25 in Huntsville, Ala. The annual award recognizes outstanding employees within the Army Materiel Command.

The Louis Dellamonica Award is named after a former JMC employee who worked for the federal government for more than 65 years - the majority of them at Hawthorne Army Depot, Hawthorne, Nev.

Day expressed his thoughts on receiving the award.

"As we've researched the history of the award, we were very humbled to be considered in the same context of previous nominees and selectees. Not to mention being considered compared to the huge contributions and accomplishments of the award's namesake, Mr. Louis Dellamonica," Day said. "I'm very honored to be selected and to represent JMC and LCAAP. We are very fortunate at LCAAP to have professional and mission-focused personnel, across the entire munitions enterprise, working very hard to provide small caliber ammo for our service-members.

"This award truly represents their significant contributions and support for our warfighters. As you know, it takes the entire team to be successful... and although I'm somewhat biased, I think LCAAP does an exceptional job! Which includes the entire team, Joint Munitions and Lethality Life Cycle Management Command, and our industry partners!"

Buechler also expressed gratitude in his selection for the award.

"It is an honor to be recognized with this award, given the legacy of Mr. Dellamonica," he said. "But in a larger sense, this recognition would not have been possible without the professional support and valued contributions of the JMC and LCAAP staff and leadership."

Day has served as LCAAP commander since 2008. He is scheduled to transfer to his next assignment this summer. Buechler, an industrial engineer supervisor, has worked at the plant since December 2001.

Lake City's mission includes the day-to-day fabrication, manufacturing, and testing of small arms. LCAAP is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility, operated by Alliant Techsystems Inc., under a fixed price supply contract.

Day becomes the first active duty military awardee from JMC since the award was renamed for Dellamonica. The last AMC Soldier to win the award was in 2004, when the award was called the AMC Top Ten. The last JMC Soldier awarded was Staff Sgt. Brian G. Wisneski in 2002.

Other past JMC awardees include Daniel Brown, Thomas Enricco, Clifton Tolbert (2006) and Mark Haring (2002).