Redstone composites lab receives top award

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- The Prototype Integration Facility at the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center was recognized Thursday at the 40th annual Joseph P. Cribbins Aviation Product Symposium for accelerating the Army's widespread adoption of composites in aviation systems.

The PIF's Advanced Composites Lab received the Materiel Readiness Award for a Contribution by an Industry Team, Group or Special Unit. The 2013 award was presented by the Army Aviation Association of America at the Cribbins symposium's awards luncheon.

"There is no higher validation for one's efforts than an award such as this," said Greg Mellema who, along with Kimberly Cockrell, received the award on behalf of the civilian and contractor employees who work at the PIF's Advanced Composites Lab.

During 2013, the Advanced Composites Lab developed and fielded composite repair procedures for the UH-60M and the AH-64E composite stabilizers. Also during the year, PIF employees trained more than 100 Soldiers and many more civilians in these repair processes as well as general advanced composite fundamentals, all applicable to most composite structures in the Army.

PIF employees have also repaired and returned to service more than 50 composite structures previously classified as "unrepairable," resulting in substantial savings versus overhaul. PIF employees fielded the Army's overarching technical manual on composites and composite repair, created a composites website on the Joint Technical Data Interchange system to be a clearing house of composites information for the Army, and produced a series of composite repair training videos for the website.

"Advanced composite structures are not a passing fad. You will see them more on aircraft," Mellema said. "They create new and interesting challenges for our aircraft."

Cockrell said it took 18 months to "stand up a capability that closed a gap not only for our facility and organization but for the Army in general."

She thanked the project offices for Utility Helicopters and Apache Attack Helicopters in the Program Executive Office for Aviation as well as industry partners in establishing the PIF's Advanced Composites Lab.

"Rapid response to the war fighter worldwide would definitely not be possible without our industry partners," she said. "They have helped advance the science."

Other local awardees at the awards ceremony included:

• General Dynamics C4 Systems, recipient of the Materiel Readiness Award for Contribution by a Major Contractor -- General Dynamic's Tactical Airspace Integration System performance-based logistics team has provided unparalleled assistance to TAIS users in 37 states and seven foreign countries. The team has maintained a greater than 99 percent contracted operation readiness of the TAIS fleet, increasing reliability, maintainability and system operational availability to the Soldier.

• Gary Simmons of L-3 Vertex, recipient of the Materiel Readiness Award for a Contribution by an Individual Member of Industry -- As the regional manager for the Contractor Logistics Support of Army fixed wing aircraft deployed to Southwest Asia, Simmons has the overall responsibility for fixed wing aircraft sustainment in support of critical combat mission in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Qatar and Africa. The Fixed Wing Project Office, PEO Aviation, relies on Simmons to ensure the aircraft are maintained to the highest standard and can be safely operated in an austere environment.

Other awardees included:

• ARMA Global Corp. of Tampa, Fla., recipient of the Materiel Readiness Award for Contribution by a Small Business Organization -- ARMA has procured, inspected and delivered 146,805 helicopter parts, with an additional 115,387 on order and schedule for delivery, in support of the Army's Non-Standard Rotary Wing Aviation Project Office;

• 204th Military Intelligence Battalion (Aerial Reconnaissance), Fort Bliss, Texas, Fixed Wing Unit of the Year Award -- "Vigilant Hunters" provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to the U.S. Central Command in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, executing more than 850 mission sorties and about 400 support sorties, and contributing to the destruction or capture of high valued individuals;

• Staff Sgt. Matthew Kent, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., Aircraft Survivability Equipment Award -- An Advanced Aircraft Survivability Equipment repairer, deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom in support of aircraft survivability;

• Sgt. Norman Scroggins, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky., Avionics Award -- Deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom as an experienced and combat proven avionics mechanic in support of the MH-47G and MH-60M;

• Staff Sgt. Theodore Stoops, 1106th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group, Fresno, Calif., Donald F. Luce Depot Maintenance Artisan Award Citation -- In three months, logged more than 750 man-hours, and completed six major depot-level sheet metal repairs and more than 100 work orders, saving the government more than $3 million in parts, aircraft repair and shipping;

• Sgt. Dolphise Colomb, Company A, Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Soldier of the Year Award -- As a tactical unmanned aircraft systems instructor operator, trained and built 12 operators toward full mission readiness in support of the Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System operations;

• D Troop, 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Unit of the Year Award -- Flew more than 650 combat missions and more than 3,300 hours in support of Combat Team Ready First operations in southern Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom; and

• 6th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky., Outstanding Aviation Logistics Support Unit of the Year -- During eight months serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, completed 4,934 work orders to support 52 aircraft of eight different mission design series and 32,400 flight hours.