VICENZA, Italy – When Sgt. Kyle Toto answered a 2 a.m. call from Cathy Garcia, he wasn’t surprised to learn that U.S. Army Garrison Italy’s Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program won top place in this year’s recognition awards.
After all, Toto, the BOSS president, and Garcia, the civilian BOSS advisor, labored tirelessly over the past two years to make it the Army’s best. Toto, an infantryman from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, relates to the junior Soldiers he helps support by planning and participating in BOSS events.
“We worked really hard to make sure that the quality of life and everything from barracks life to recreational events were improved as much as possible for our single soldiers,” Toto said.
Garcia, six time zones away, called from Washington D.C. where she was attending the Installation Management Command’s BOSS conference. Evaluators looked at Army BOSS programs worldwide for their contributions to community service, quality of life, recreation, leisure and life skills.
On June 13, Command Sgt. Maj. Jason Copeland presented USAG Italy with first place award – the BOSS program of the year and the gold award for BOSS presidential volunteer service. Garcia earned honors as the BOSS Advisor of the Year, also known as the Fetus Edwards Award.
“The team has worked really hard to target Soldiers interests and having a variety of events,” Garcia said. “We do soccer tournaments with the carabinieri and local police and cultural exchange with the Swiss guard in Rome.”
The BOSS program at Camp Darby, near Pisa, Italy, received the bronze award for Presidential Volunteer Service Award. The Darby Military Community is home to single service members from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, said Staff Sgt. Crystal Alcantara, an Air Force noncommissioned officer who serves as Camp Darby’s BOSS president. The diversity of services as benefited their program.
“For us, it’s great because we get to interact with one another,” Alcantara said. “Working with the Army and understanding how they work has definitely built a bridge between us.”
Other Army garrisons throughout IMCOM-Europe earned awards. USAG Ansbach won third place for program of the year. For the Presidential Volunteer Service award USAG Bavaria (Grafenwoehr), USAG Rheinland-Pfalz and USAG Wiesbaden won gold awards while USAG Ansbach, USAG Bavaria (Hohenfels) and USAG Benelux won silver.
In Vicenza, Command Sgt. Maj. Ricardo Moreno congratulated Garcia and Toto, plus all the Soldiers in the BOSS program.
“Here at U.S. Army Garrison Italy, our BOSS program is unmatched,” Moreno said. “We have many opportunities for our Soldiers and we encourage everyone coming to Italy to be involved with this program. It does so much for the community, here in Vicenza and at the Darby Military Community.”
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