U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release

2006 Maintenance Award Winners Announced

The Department of Defense announced today the 2006 winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards at the depot and field levels.   These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in military equipment and weapon systems maintenance. 

The Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMVW) Recapitalization Program at Red River Army Depot, Texas.   The program, through the depot workforce’s responsiveness, exceptional work ethic, and dedication to the mission, streamlined the overhaul/remanufacturing processes of HMMWVs to support our warfighters in the Global War on Terrorism.

The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy secretary of defense of maintenance policy, programs, and resources.  Mason served as the champion of organic depot maintenance for three decades, while helping to transform DoD organic depot-level operations.

There are six field-level awards presented in the categories of small, medium, and large units (2 each).  The recipients of this year’s Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Awards are:

SMALL CATEGORY

Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light Four Seven - USN

Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.

Navy

303d Intelligence Squadron - USAF

Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea

Air Force

MEDIUM CATEGORY

297^th Transportation Company

Fort Hood, Texas

Army

437^th Maintenance Squadron/315^th Maintenance Squadron

Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.

Air Force

LARGE CATEGORY

3rd Wing

Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska

Air Force

3rd Materiel Readiness Battalion - USMC

Okinawa, Japan

Marine Corps

The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet on Oct. 25, 2006, during the 2006 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Grand Sierra Resort (formerly the Reno Hilton) in Reno, Nev.  Additional information regarding the 2006 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition can be found at http://www.sae.org/dod.

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