Department of Defense Expeditionary Civilian (DOD-EC) Robert S. Lovejoy was awarded the Meritorious Public Service Medal, the NATO Medal, the Commanders Certificate of Wartime Service and the Global War on Terrorism Medal for his service to the Area Support Group-Afghanistan (ASG-A) from June 2018 to June 2019. The awards were presented by ASG-A Commander Col. Jacob Peterson at Bagram Airfield June 14, 2019.
Lovejoy accepted the yearlong deployment through the DOD-EC Program, which deploys personnel to support military operations abroad. He served as the director of public works and later as the mayor for the forward operating base (FOB) Kandahar Airfield.
Among his many accomplishments, Lovejoy was instrumental in developing a 25 million dollar plan to identify, assess, and execute a facilities transition plan to ensure over 850 facilities had a path to receive repairs and would subsequently be sustained with Operations & Maintenance services enduringly.
He led a response team of more than 75 volunteers across multiple organizations including ASG-A, Combined Joint Engineering, the U.S. Air Force and Prime Contractor to deploy pumps and sand bags at a critical location to prevent significant flooding of primary housing facilities. Lovejoy's actions prevented displacement of more than 100 Soldiers and DOD Civilians from permanent housing and resulted in no extensive damage to any of the housing.
A 20-year retired Navy lieutenant commander, Lovejoy returns to his position as the assistant program manager-engineering in the Program Management Office-Applications office at Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Virginia. He said this deployment was the most rewarding tour of his 35-year federal career. More than anything, he said he enjoyed supporting the Warfighter.
As the FOB mayor at Kandahar Airfield, Lovejoy provided base life support to more than 10,000 Warfighters and supporting personnel. The ASG-A provides base life support services for more than 35,000 personnel throughout the Combined Joint Operations Area Afghanistan.
This includes U.S. military, DOD Civilian, Contractor and Coalition Forces contributing to Operation Freedom's Sentinel and the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support train, advise and assist mission.
ASG-A base life support services encompasses everything from law enforcement and public works to billeting, food service and quality of life.
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