In 2021, I arrived at Eighth Army’s (8A’s) Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion (HHBN) at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, as a new Ordnance officer. I was brought on the team to assume two positions: the battalion maintenance officer and the maintenance platoon leader within the headquarters support company. The battalion’s maintenance program was one of the worst in 8A, from the culture within the maintenance platoon, to the view of maintenance across a large and diverse battalion, to the status of equipment readiness. Six months later, our team was preparing to compete as a battalion in the 8A Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME). Our journey of turning around the maintenance program, submitting for the AAME, and winning our category at the U.S. Army Pacific level is just as, if not more, interesting than the evaluation outcome.
As an Army, we must be results oriented. Our national security and the lives of our people depend on our ability to win. Though we can never discount winning, we cannot lose sight that the journey is often as important. Competing in the AAME is one way to transform organizations. Every unit that seeks to meet or exceed the standard should compete. Several factors dissuade organizations from participating in the award program. These include having known faults within current maintenance systems and programs, high operational tempo, and a pervasive lack of confidence.
After winning two AAMEs in two units and combatant commands in the last three years, our teams discovered that to become better, you must be willing do to something different and challenge yourself to seek personal and organizational improvement. The importance of opening your unit to the full benefits of inspectors and external evaluations, the value of directed education and team development, and positive cultural shifts are why the AAME is something Soldiers should not fear or delay. The time is always right to mature maintainers, improve cultures, and increase equipment readiness. It is not about winning; it is about growing in excellence.
What Is the AAME?
The AAME is the Chief of Staff of the Army’s annual award program designed to recognize excellence in maintenance, adding incentive to programs across major Army commands. Established in 1982, the award program includes active duty, National Guard, Army Reserve, and Army depot-level categories, which are further broken down by the modified table of organization and equipment and table of distribution and allowance. The AAME is not an inspection but an evaluation, making it different from the Command Maintenance Discipline Program (CMDP) inspection that echelons at battalion and above undergo annually as a part of the Organizational Inspection Program. The CMDP inspects combat readiness, focusing on identifying deviations from established standards and highlighting organizational strengths and weaknesses. While feedback exists in both, the CMDP is required, but the AAME is voluntary. It includes an in-depth evaluation of every facet of the maintenance program. Subsequent results do not impact the unit or chain of command negatively. The inspection teams provide feedback to the chain of command and maintenance program leaders.
The AAME also differs from a CMDP inspection in how it evaluates individual Soldier competencies and the effectiveness of leaders and their processes. It goes beyond whether the unit can maintain equipment, uphold regulatory maintenance processes, and build combat power. It encourages and champions creative thinking, innovative and efficient processes, and competition. The AAME objectives, as stated on the Ordnance Corps website, are as follows:
- Improve and sustain field maintenance readiness.
- Assess the maintenance component of unit readiness.
- Improve efficiency and reduce waste.
- Recognize exceptional maintenance accomplishments and initiatives.
- Ensure that the best units compete.
- Provide positive incentives for extraordinary maintenance efforts.
- Promote competition at Army command, Army service component command, direct reporting unit, and DoD levels.
In 8A and 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery (1-7 ADA), we viewed competition in the AAME as an opportunity to unlock the full potential of our maintenance teams. We educated our teams on the award and the evaluation process and charted a course to our objective.
Set the Goal, Then Ask Questions and Learn
Our maintenance team at 8A HHBN had little to no experience with the AAME at the time of submission. We had to start by asking for help. We scheduled an AAME staff-assistance visit with our resident higher headquarters AAME coordinators to understand the evaluation, requirements, timelines, and best practices. We worked with an incredible command maintenance evaluation team (COMET) in 8A, who were an invaluable resource. We communicated with their team frequently and invited them to conduct courtesy inspections and oversight of our program, especially as we prepared for the evaluation. They helped us develop and improve areas such as our battery maintenance program, shop and bench stock management, and dispatching. It also inspired us to create a library for manuals and efficiencies in our man-hour accounting. Their support helped fill in the knowledge gaps as we sought uniformity and effectiveness in our battalion-wide programs for arms rooms, communications, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear equipment maintenance.
Similarly, in 1-7 ADA at Fort Liberty, we used the U.S. Army Forces Command G-4 team for guidance, thoughts, opinions, and instruction. They provided coaching and counsel for our safety and environmental/hazardous material (HAZMAT) programs, stock/parts cage management, and assistance for our maintenance clerks in their management of administrative and parts processing in the Global Combat Support System-Army. They exposed our shortcomings and encouraged us to think beyond the minimum requirements.
Get in the Regulations and Doctrine
A rewarding part of preparing for an AAME is how it guides us back into doctrine. The best place to start for a foundational understanding of a system or process in the Army is through doctrine. Army Doctrine Publication 1-01, Doctrine Primer, says, “Doctrine serves as a starting point for thinking about and conducting operations.” Reading through the maintenance regulations, manuals, and publications provided the early warning indicators of where we needed to adjust our program. It enabled immediate course correction and inspired thoughtful follow-on questions to maintenance leaders and evaluators. This first step revealed knowledge gaps and breaks in the program. It then drove training and informed refinement of command and leader priorities.
Open Yourself Up to the Inspectors
U.S. Navy (Retired) CAPT L. David Marquet writes about the power of inspectors in his book Turn the Ship Around! A top naval captain and rising star in the ranks, Marquet was thrust into a challenging assignment as the commander of one of the worst submarines in the U.S. Navy. His leadership and management methods proved successful. He turned his submarine into one of the top performing submarines in the Navy within a year. Marquet championed having his vessel inspected and evaluated, saying, “It runs counter to the instincts expressed by many of my officers and chiefs to minimize the ship’s visibility to the outside, especially when problems were involved.” Marquet acknowledges one of the primary reasons people shy away from organizational exposure: We do not want outsiders poking around and looking at our internal operations because we fear the aftermath if found to be out of tolerance, incorrectly conducting business, committing safety violations, or being underequipped to do the mission right. It feels easier for people to remain unaware.
Exposing your organization to external scrutiny is where growth happens. It helps an organization see itself more clearly. Inspectors are deep wells of knowledge and seasoned teachers. We observed growth among our Soldiers as we brought AAME evaluation teams, G-4 elements, and COMET teams into our space. We embraced the AAME for program improvement and technical development as opposed to viewing them as the decider of our fate. The mere presence of inspectors gives your teams an opportunity to be inquisitive. It fosters collective growth and an environment of learning and curiosity.
Every Member on the Team Has a Role
A maintenance program includes many subprograms. It includes environmental and HAZMAT management, the battery maintenance program, motor pool safety, dispatching procedures, proper use of equipment, quality assurance/quality control, and physical security. Effective maintenance operations are an all-in type of endeavor. It takes more than one or two individuals to run an efficient, responsive, and resilient maintenance program. This is where the AAME can create cultural change that surpasses the award program and maintenance itself. It creates individual buy-in and cohesion, builds proficiency, inspires creativity, and grows individual confidence. By divesting direct control of certain programs to qualified NCOs in the maintenance program, we increased ownership at the individual level.
Dress Right, Dress
Motor pools can get messy and cluttered quickly. Maintainers become accustomed to working around paperwork covered in greasy fingerprints, dropped or picked up from a clerk’s desk while installing a part. As our teams prepared for the AAME, we took a hard look at our processes for paperwork flow, filing, and maintaining historical and current data. We needed to get organized.
Use uniformed binders to keep track of programs. It not only makes the office look neat but demonstrates you have clear systems in place. The same goes for the maintenance bay. Examples include usable sheets for serviceability checks at the eye wash stations, clearly marked waste storage, and a functioning tool room with the right sign-out paperwork and tool inventory. These processes foster good property management, effective safety programs, and systems that are accessible for operators and maintainers. Do not overlook the small things. A maintenance training binder with products, storyboards, and after-action review comments shows maturity in the program. Documenting events and lessons learned enabled us to maintain progress.
It Is Not About Winning
“We don’t have time.” During both AAME evaluation periods, we were in periods of high operational tempo. Whether starting a war fighter exercise, initiating a joint exercise off-station, or preparing for a contingency response force mission that became a complex combat deployment, there was never a good time to submit. Most units will never find a perfect time to request an AAME. Manage expectations and develop a plan. Garner support from the chain of command and find ways to make improvements within the constraints of current battle rhythms. You cannot rebuild or fix your program overnight.
Compete in the AAME
Winning matters in our profession, but not everything is about winning. Sometimes the journey provides more lessons than the desired end state. Whether or not your team believes an AAME evaluation will be favorable, do not disqualify your organization from competing. Your program will benefit from the process, and your maintainers will be better technical professionals as a result.
The AAME is about more than winning a rigorous evaluation and receiving an award. As maintainers, it is our responsibility to provide world-class maintenance support to arm units with the equipment they need. Our success in the AAME mattered most because our teams had to provide critical maintenance support in challenging environments. We were ready because our program and team were ready. The AAME postured us to be at our best for when we are needed the most.
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1LT Melissa A. Czarnogursky is a LTG (R) James M. Dubik Writing Fellow. She currently serves in the U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Deployment and Distribution Operation Center/CCJ4 directorate of logistics and engineering (forward deployed). Her previous assignments include assistant brigade mobility officer for 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, company executive officer for Echo Maintenance Company 1-7 Air Defense Artillery, the battalion maintenance officer for Eighth Army’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, a platoon leader for various sustainment formations, and is a prior enlisted field artillery sergeant. Her operational experience includes service and deployments in USCENTCOM, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
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This article was published in the spring 2025 issue of Army Sustainment.
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