FORT SILL, Okla., March 18, 2021 -- The Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, and garrison command teams thanked Department of the Army civilians and Soldiers for their help during recovery operations after the recent snowmaggedon.
The leaders spent March 5, 9, and 12 recognizing numerous individuals at units, facilities, and agencies across the post.
At School Age Services March 12, Maj. Gen. Ken Kamper, Col. Rhett Taylor, Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen Burnley, and Command Sgt. Maj. Russell Blackwell presented individuals with certificates and coins of excellence.
“Thanks for doing your part for reacting to some pretty severe circumstances,” Kamper said to Child and Youth Services employees Cameron Freeto, Kelsee Mullins, and Spencer Hightower. They were a small part of the many Family, and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation CYS staffers who responded to the call.
Kamper told the honorees about Army Materiel Command commanding general Gen. Edward Daley’s damage assessment here Feb. 24.
“General Daley said we’re going to make a contract of trust here. The top 10 or 11 priorities will be fixed within two weeks, and everything else within 60 days,” Kamper said.
“If we don’t fix this stuff right, then we’re going to have huge mold issues in July and August,” Kamper said.
Daley said he would handle the cost of the recovery, which will run into the tens of millions of dollars, Kamper said. “That’s a commitment by the Army to our people.”
Hightower, Youth Sports and Fitness assistant director, said CYS employees received a text to report to SAS Feb. 22. “It was all-hands-on -deck to get the facility ready for the kids,” he said.
Mullins, Youth Sports and Fitness director, described the scene: “The ceiling had fallen, debris was everywhere, it was a filthy mess,” she said. “It took a lot of cleaning and throwing away stuff.”
There were about 20 CYS workers there, as well as Directorate of Public Works employees and contractors, Hightower said. “We started at 9 o’clock and some people stayed until 7 or 8 in the evening.”
He said it was cool to be recognized with a Certificate of Thanks, and the CG’s coin.
“I’m honored. We don’t do this expecting rewards, we do this because we enjoy working here with the kids,” Hightower said, “and we want to make sure the facilities are the best they can be for them.”
Contractors could not receive coins or certificates; however, their facilities were presented with a framed certificate, according to Maj. Rich Igleby, FCoE and Fort Sill secretary to the general staff.
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