FORT BRAGG, N.C. - With innovation, teamwork and customer service in its arsenal, Fort Bragg's Directorate of Logistics has been rewarded for its excellence by winning the 2010 Army Award for Maintenance Excellence, large category; and selected as runner up for the Deployment Excellence Award, All Army Installation category.
The awards are part of the Army Chief of Staff Combined Logistics Excellence Awards program.
Last year, DOL's Materiel Maintenance Division was the runner up for the award. To win this year, MMD improved on some of their ongoing programs, said Joseph Karmazyn, MMD chief.
Karmazyn said one of the programs the inspectors were impressed with was the "On The Move" repair trailers. "The (inspectors) hadn't seen that at any of the other installations," said Karmazyn. Technicians inside the "On The Move" trailers repaired more than 21,000 weapons and more than 8,000 night vision goggles for Soldiers at their location.
"It really supports the warfighters a lot. By (the "On The Move" trailer) being out there with them, the Soldiers don't have to worry about transporting weapons (to our arms room) and back," said George Graves, contracting officer's representative for MMD-Ground Maintenance Branch. The trailers have also been in action at Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point, N.C., said Graves.
The Aviation Maintenance Branch had their own achievements to add to the total success of MMD. "Last year we did a 28 percent increase on work orders. It saved units more than $2.3 million dollars and more than $335,000 in depot repairs," said Tite Mahone, Aviation Logistics Maintenance Branch quality assurance specialist. "We also completed 53 percent more UH-60 (Black Hawk) aircraft for reset from the previous year." ALMB's Quality Assurance inspections are the templates for all the DOLs, added Karmazyn.
Robert Franks, DOL director, summed up why MMD was so successful in this year's competition.
"(Inspectors) had a copy of their report from last year and looked to see what we had changed or improved upon or new things we implemented this year. They were very happy with the fact that we had fixed everything and improved on everything they had recommended last year and went above and beyond to introduce new items to our repair capability here to service the Soldier better. I think those were some of the things that helped push us over the top," said Franks.
MMD's success also helped the DOL Transportation Division secure runner up spot in the Deployment Excellence Award. "Maintenance complements Trans on our ability to meet deployment timelines by maintaining the equipment that rolls out of here, plus maintaining the base equipment, such as our cranes, custom trailers, swing-throughs and other equipment," said Timothy Shea, DOL transportation chief.
The numbers can show some of the Transportation Division's many accomplishments. Trans deployed 42,300 personnel, moved 689 pieces of equipment by rail on 255 rail cars, and 2,566 pieces of equipment using 1663 trucks. More than 280 military and commercial aircraft moved 37,288 personnel and 2,207 pieces of equipment through large unit deployments and nearly 5,100 personnel by commercial means by individual and small group travel.
To compete, Gerald Jensen, DOL Transportation Chief of Unit Movements compiled all the numbers, standard operating procedures and plans to send to Fort Eustis, Va. The package provides a picture of Fort Bragg's deployment capabilities, showing the complexity of the operation, innovations, unique practices and future planning and improvement, said Jensen.
One of the innovations was the SMERT trailer, an adjustable trailer that can move freight from trucks and rail to cargo aircraft.
When the inspectors came to see if the report matched what Fort Bragg was really doing, the Trans team was ready. "I think what impressed them is that 90 percent of the information came from our ITO Web page. All we had to do is pull up that Web page and show them the information," said Shea.
"Winning the AAME and the DEA reflects on our ability to take care of the needs of our Soldiers and equipment," added Jensen.
Teamwork is what keeps DOL excelling, said Franks "Not only does Maintenance, Supply and Transportation work together, but you have Support Operations who helps to synchronize and integrate it all and make sure the people are receiving timely service. We have never missed a deployment at Fort Bragg and we never will because of the outstanding people who work in the DOL who will lean forward at all human costs to themselves to make sure that a Soldier gets what he needs to deploy and to go into harm's way. That spirit that emulates the Fort Bragg Soldier is alive and well here in the DOL, always," he said.
Another quality that Fort Bragg DOL has is a commitment to customer service said Franks. The directorate has a mandatory customer service class that every employee takes to learn good customer service techniques and how to deal with customers he said. "We wouldn't be needed if it weren't for the Soldiers and the customers we provide services to," said Franks.
Although both teams are proud of their achievements, the MMD and Trans teams aren't resting on their laurels. "You need to sustain and don't drop that level of excellence. You can only improve on it. That's what I plan to do," said Karmazyn.
"We kept our focus to achieve the goal. It's good to let everyone know how well the Fort Bragg workforce is supporting the warfighter. We always want to be number one," added Graves.
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