'You deserve this recognition'

By Ms Kari Hawkins (Redstone)April 20, 2012

'You deserve this recognition'
Col. Kenneth "Todd" Royar, commander of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, presents a Commander's Award for Civilian Service to Randy Moyer, who works on CH-47 Chinook sustainment issues for the Aviation and Missile Command's Integrated Materiel Mana... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

A group of Fort Campbell, Ky., Soldiers traveled to Redstone Arsenal on April 10 to present a special "thank you" to a group of civilian employees.

The gratitude expressed by Col. Kenneth "Todd" Royar, commander of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, went to Team Redstone civilians who made a big difference for his brigade during their deployment in Afghanistan despite being thousands of miles away.

"It's important that we recognize the entire team," Royar said. "Too often it's just the war fighter that receives the recognition. But it took an entire team to make our deployment successful."

That team included 22 Team Redstone employees from the Aviation and Missile Command's Integrated Materiel Management Center, the Program Executive Office for Aviation, the Aviation and Missile Research Development and Engineering Center and other Team Redstone organizations. Royar presented the employees with the Commander's Award for Civilian Service and certificates of appreciation during an informal ceremony April 10 in an AMCOM G-3 Operations conference room.

"We want to be able to say 'thank you.' We have the privilege of being able to thank you for the support you gave our brigade and the other units attached to us," Royar said. "Any success we had was really a team effort of all those involved, and that includes AMCOM, PEO Aviation and other organizations here. We could not have done it by ourselves."

The 159th was deployed to the Regional Command-South in Afghanistan from February 2011 to February 2012. While deployed, the brigade included a mix of 179 aircraft, including Kiowa Warrior, Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook and some fixed wing.

Royar said Team Redstone employees brought a "level of detail" to the mission that was "just phenomenal. We can't begin to say 'thank you' enough. You deserve this recognition."

He said Team Redstone employees would go to "the ends of the earth" time and time again to make sure parts were delivered quickly to repair downed aircraft. Often, those aircraft, flying in optempo operations, were downed by one culprit -- sand.

"Sand is not very conducive to aviation operations and in southern Afghanistan there is a lot of sand," Royar said. "It wore parts out pretty fast. Team Redstone employees supplied us with the right parts at the right time."

The 22 employees recognized were not selected by the brigade's leaders, but from Soldiers within the brigade who "dealt with these individuals on a daily basis." In addition, they represent other Team Redstone employees whose support continues to make a difference for war fighters every day.

The support these employees provided not only made the 159th successful, but also meant success for the war fighters "on the ground who we support. They are the ones put in harm's way," the commander said.

The thanks went both ways during the informal ceremony. AMCOM deputy commander Ronnie Chronister told the Soldiers of the 159th that "you guys are the heroes, you and your families, for everything you've done for us."

Besides making the trip to thank the Team Redstone employees, Royar and others from his brigade also spent the day at Redstone visiting organizations that support the Army's combat aviation brigades.

Those recognized by the 159th included: John Jolly and Bill Grubbs, Air Warrior product management, Program Executive Office for Soldier Air Warrior; Anna Locke, AMRDEC's Prototype Integration Facility; Jeffrey Sears, aviation product management, AMCOM's IMMC Ground Support Equipment; Gary Peterson, Stacey Holt and Kathryn Riggs, AMCOM's IMMC UH-60 Black Hawk; Randy Moyer, AMCOM's IMMC CH-47 Chinook Sustainment; Kelli Brooks, AMCOM's IMMC Apache LMS; Tom Fitzgerald, AMCOM's IMMC Scout Team; Ray Wathan, AMCOM's IMMC Logistics Support Division; Norm Bullerdick and Victoria Reynolds, logistics management, AMCOM's IMMC; Bill Goforth, AH-64 Apache product management, PEO Aviation; Brian Gilbert and Lt. Col. Mike Rutkowski, air traffic control product management, PEO Aviation; Lt. Col. Heyward Wright, UH-60 Black Hawk product management, PEO Aviation; Lt. Col. Spencer Guida, systems integration (Black Hawk modifications), PEO Aviation; Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jack Tartaglia, Chinook product management, PEO Aviation; Lt. Col. Kirk McCauley, Kiowa Warrior product management, PEO Aviation; Snuff Thompson, Cargo Helicopter (Chinook) product management, PEO Aviation; and Murrey Vedel, Defense Logistics Agency-Aviation.