GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – Col. Kevin Poole, U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria commander, was guest speaker at the Length of Service Civilian Awards Ceremony, Sept. 30, at the Tower View Conference Center on Tower Barracks.
During the ceremony long-time employees who have been in government service between 20 and 45 years were honored for their dedication. Command Sgt. Maj. Sebastian Camacho and several distinguished guests joined the event.
Before the long-time employees were honored, some members of the garrison team were honored for providing significant contributions to the Soldiers, family members, and civilians of the installation.
The Customer Service Team Award was presented to the Rose Barracks Postal Service Center, and accepted by postal supervisor, Tim Roberts. Next, certificates were presented to firefighters from the Directorate of Emergency Services and the 23rd Modular Ordinance Company for their exceptional service in support of the Tower Barracks Fire Station with response to wildland fires in the Grafenwoehr training area.
Long-term employees were then recognized. Length of service awards ranged from a minimum of 20 years up to 45 years.
Poole explained that the loyalty and dedication of those employees is what makes USAG Bavaria indeed better than any other place, #BetterInBavaria.
“We are fortunate to have you here in Bavaria,” said Poole. “You are the essence of our community's success, people who do what needs to be done day after day, year after year, or even decade after decade. All of this without losing your enthusiasm and commitment to providing quality services.”
The German Works Council Chairmen, Siegfried Boesl, who has almost hit his 40-year mark as well, showed appreciation of the decades of loyalty of his colleagues during his remarks.
“Loyal employees are very important for a smooth operating garrison, no company becomes strong if it doesn’t have dedicated employees,” explained Boesl. “And of course, over the course of such a long time, a close bond is formed with the employer.”
One of the honorees, Ricky Alston, a military retiree, who currently works at the Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation was honored for a total of 45 years of service.
“It’s really nice to see that someone appreciates the time and effort that you put into your job, I’m honored to have someone recognize me as being able to serve my country and my community for over four decades,” Alston said.
Honoree Linda Schmalzl began her career as a Local National at the Environmental Branch of the Directorate of Public Works 40 years ago. Nowadays, she works within the Directorate of Human Resources and takes pride in being part of the team that prepares for this event twice a year.
“I have always loved this event, I think it's a nice gesture to honor people at 30, 35, 40 and 45 years of service,” Schmalzl explained. “It's also nice because Germans are finally getting together with the leadership. It's like the U.S. Army is saying thank you in person.”
Schmalzl’s advice for current and future employees is, “Show interest, be proactive, speak English even if it's hard at first and even if you make mistakes. Then you have a reason to laugh and that is never wrong. Laughter is the best medicine and breaks all the ice.”
Pictures of the event can be viewed here.
Awardees:
Customer Service Team Award
- Timothy Roberts - Directorate of Human Resources, Postal Service Center-Rose Barracks
Certificate of Appreciation
- Sebastian Baier - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Justin Goss - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Bernd Hutzler - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Tobias Lützner - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Christian Pappenberger - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Christian Palecki - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Alexander Richter - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Schmidt, Martin - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Tobias Zwicker - Directorate of Emergency Services Firefighters
- Staff Sgt. Michael Daniels - 23rd Modular Ordnance Company
- Spc. Joshua Lindley - 23rd Modular Ordnance Company
- Pfc. Mason Easterling - 23rd Modular Ordnance Company
45 Years
- Ricky Alston - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Karl Bielmeier - 405th Army Field Support Brigade
- Uwe Woelker -Directorate of Public Works
40 Years
- Norbert Ackermann - Directorate of Emergency Services
- Manfred Lingl - Directorate of Public Works
- Sieglinde Schmalzl - Directorate of Human Resources
35 Years
- Steven Naxer - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Wolfgang Renner - Directorate of Public Works
- Elliott Ross -Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security
- Hans-Juergen Stauber -Directorate of Public Works
- Johann Trassl - Directorate of Emergency Services
30 Years
- Carlton Campbell - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Bushra Ghani - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Patrick Shrier - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Wolfgang Tischler - Directorate of Emergency Services
25 Years
- Darren Dame - Directorate of Human Resources
- Dieter Hoessl - Directorate of Public Works
- Aldo Krapf - Maintenance Activity Vilseck
- Marlon Laidley - Directorate of Human Resources
- Jon Ribacchi - Equal Employment Opportunity Office
20 Years
- Helmut Eichler - Directorate of Public Works
- Alex Engram - Directorate of Human Resources
- Oliver Herrera - Directorate of Human Resources
- Rainer Huff - Directorate of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation
- Bernd Hutzler - Directorate of Emergency Services
- James Kestner - Directorate of Emergency Services
- Stephan Kirschsieper - Directorate of Public Works
- Johannes Lehner - Directorate of Public Works
- Juergen Loesch - Maintenance Activity Vilseck
- Berthold Schmid - Directorate of Public Works
- Richard Troppmann - Installation Safety Office
- Wolfgang Voit - Directorate of Public Works
- Sabine Weinert - 405th Army Field Support Brigade
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