SDDC announces junior officer, civilian of year winners

By HQ SDDC Command Affairs OfficeMarch 11, 2011

SDDC announces junior officer, civilian of year winners
Capt. Jeffrey D. Hance, 690th Rapid Port Opening Element at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and Bradley McDonald, 832nd Transportation Battalion, Jacksonville, Fla., are named the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command's Major General H... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command announced this week the winners of the Major General Henry R. Del Mar Junior Officer of the Year and Civilian Outstanding Performer of the Year awards for 2010.

Capt. Jeffrey D. Hance, 690th Rapid Port Opening Element at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., and Bradley McDonald, 832nd Transportation Battalion, Jacksonville, Fla., were named the Junior Officer and Civilian Outstanding Performer of the Year for 2010 respectively.

Hance, a logistics officer for the 690th RPOE, was cited for establishing procedures for his unit to gain necessary equipment to rapidly deploy and support U.S. Transportation Command's Joint Task Force-Port Opening mission.

He led the effort to bring the 690th from a skeleton unit to a fully equipped RPOE in less than a year by fielding 604 essential pieces of equipment and several non-standard mission essential items, standing up a new arms room, managing a $2.3 million dollar budget, and managing more than $5.3 million in supplies and equipment.

His exceptional supply forecasting allowed the unit to successfully requisition equipment, vehicles, shipping requirements, and life support, supporting Eagle Flag '10, which was the unit's first fully deployed joint field exercise. Hance also organized logistics for the Joint Forcible Entry exercise supporting the 18th Airborne Corps.

Among other achievements, Hance planned and executed logistics support for his unit, the 839th Transportation Battalion from Livorno, Italy; Military Sealift Command personnel from Naples, Italy; the 597th Transportation Brigade; and the 110th Expeditionary Port Unit in Houston, Texas. He received top accolades from the entire chain of command and set new standards for other RPOEs to follow.

Hance also dedicates considerable time working in his community to include helping revitalize an elementary school benefiting community and military family children.

McDonald, a Marine Cargo Specialist with the 832th Transportation Battalion, was cited for playing a key role in ocean terminal operations deploying to and supporting the nation of Haiti with logistics expertise and getting relief supplies to the country during Operation Unified Response after a devastating earthquake struck in January 2010. His logistics expertise also contributed to bringing aid to the nation after Hurricane Tomas struck later in the year.

Supporting humanitarian aid efforts into Haiti, McDonald is credited with the cross-docking and containerization of 2.5 million meals and 5 million liters of water, as well as handling more than 38 vessels carrying more than 6,000 pieces of equipment and 830,000 square feet of cargo.

He deployed again to Haiti in September 2010 as a team member of SDDC's Joint Task Force-Port Opening and was the command's lead during the New Horizon Redeployment from Haiti. During these two periods, his superb leadership and supervision of daily port operations at the ports of Port-au-Prince and Vereaux were instrumental to the command's success.

Along with his logistics responsibilities, McDonald was cited for his contributions as a Contracting Officer Representative managing multi-faceted expeditionary contracts for stevedoring, labor, equipment, wash rack operations for sterilization of vehicles and containers, as well as contracts for life support to include living quarters, rental vehicles, light sets, generators, fuel, water, sewage, port-o-lets and refuse.

Both the 690th RPOE and 832nd TB are assigned to SDDC's 597th Transportation Brigade at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

Earlier in the year, Staff Sgt. Randy Rodriguez and Spc. Alex Perenishko were announced as SDDC's Noncommissioned Officer and Soldier of the Year for 2010. All four SDDC yearly award winners will be officially recognized during an Awards Banquet on April 6 at the command's training symposium in Dallas, Texas.