USAG Daegu strikes bronze in Army Communities of Excellence awards

By Sgt. Kim, Bumjoon, USAG Daegu Public AffairsOctober 12, 2018

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USAG Daegu, South Korea - The hard work of Soldiers, civilians and family members at United States Army Garrison Daegu has once again been recognized with the award for Army Communities of Excellence. USAG Daegu was selected as the Bronze winner for the 2018 Army Communities of Excellence awards and recognized in the award ceremony at the Pentagon, May 18. This marks the second consecutive year that USAG Daegu has been chosen as a finalist including an honorary mention back in 2017.

The ACOE award honors the top Army, National Guard, and Reserve installations that have achieved levels of excellence in building a high quality environment, outstanding facilities and superior services based on standards set annually by the National Malcolm Baldridge Quality Program Criteria for Performance Excellence, published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The ACOE program helps participating Army installations focus on providing excellence in facilities and services in support of Soldiers, their families and their units. Performance assessments provide opportunities to identify best practices in installation management and reveal potential opportunities to apply appropriate performance involvement tools.

A selection board consisting of five senior Baldridge examiners/judges from across private, non-profit and government organizations selects the finalists. As a result, the ACOE team conducts a weeklong site visit to the finalist garrisons in October and November to determine Gold, Silver and Bronze awardees.

"Our focus and drive to align with the principles of Baldrige criteria for performance excellence has refined and solidified our effective processes," said Don Lambrix, USAG Daegu chief of Plans, Analysis and Integration Office.

"Our previous Organizational Self-Assessment results revealed significant improvements in all categories. Although our accomplishments are extensive, we drive to build processes that do more than produce one-time results. With the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence as our framework, we celebrate the predictability of recurring success based on established processes." Lambrix added.

The ACOE Bronze award includes a cash award, a trophy and a flag. Every ACOE winner is required to use the award money on specific types of projects such as building or renovating community facilities. USAG Daegu is putting together ideas on how to use the award money that will best benefit the Daegu community as a whole.

"Throughout the process of ACOE competition, we refine our goals, objectives and action plans and eventually it allows the Garrison to succeed and perform the standards that are expected from community and Installation Management Command," said Lambrix. "This is no small feat and all of us can be proud of this singular accomplishment."

Currently, USAG Daegu is preparing for the 2019 ACOE and hopes to win the competition three years in a row, thus maintaining the garrison's reputation as one of the best Army communities in the world.