ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - A TACOM LCMC Rock Island team that answered an urgent requirement in June 2007 received accolades from TACOM LCMC's commanding general during his visit here Feb. 20.
Maj. Gen. William Lenaers presented a letter from the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, two star notes and commander's coins to Andrea Hoff and Lynn Burmeister of the Security Assistance Management Directorate for preparing an urgent foreign military sales lease of M107 .50 caliber sniper rifles to Lebanon.
He also presented two star notes and commander's coins to Beth Nickell and Julie Engstrom of Logistics Integration, Denise Argo of the Weapons Product Support Integration Directorate and Deb Kronfeld of the Business Management Directorate for their roles in the quick delivery of the weapons.
"This was a team effort, and sometimes you don't realize what a big impact you can have across the board," said Lenaers.
According to Erin McCarter, Security Assistance Management Directorate site manager at Rock Island, the task originated from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy for Coalition and Multinational Operations.
"While it was not known what the end use of the weapons would be, news reports that week showed Lebanese forces engaged in heavy fighting with a militant group that had entered and commandeered a large Palestinian refugee camp, purportedly using the refugees as human shields," she said.
McCarter said that the task to prepare and execute a lease is rare in the foreign military sales office, and one had not been prepared there in over a decade.
In his letter, U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey D. Feltman said, "The timeliness of the military airlift which brought this material to Lebanon was remarkable and, I am well aware, far from what is the norm for the delivery of security assistance."
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