Recognition for “above and beyond” IAs
August 9th, 2011 | Afghanistan Awards Fleet Forces Command individual augmentees Iraq Navy Personnel | Posted by Bill McMichael
More than 90,000 sailors have served in individual augmentee assignments — largely in Iraq, Afghanistan and environs — and Tuesday, Fleet Forces Command launched a web site honoring those who’ve “performed above and beyond the call of duty.”
The site pays tribute to the 1,416 IAs awarded the Bronze Star, the 10 given the Bronze Star with Combat “V” device, the 48 awarded Purple Hearts, the one sailor awarded the Silver Star and the 14 killed in the line of duty as of Aug. 9. The page also lists the totals, but not the IA recipients, for every meritorious service medal awarded.
“We are proud to launch this webpage to collectively thank our IA Sailors for their distinguished service,” said Adm. John Harvey, Fleet Forces commander. “And it is fitting that we honor the service members who paid the ultimate price during overseas contingency operations. Their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten.”
Navy IAs have worked in a wide variety of combat service and combat service support roles in the fields of logistics and contracting, engineering, security assistance, detainee operations, headquarters staff, medical support, military training, Provincial Reconstruction Teams and many other roles.
Names in the Navy IA Hall of Honor were pulled from the official Navy Awards database, Defense.gov and the Defense Manpower Data Center. Unintended omissions from the site may be addressed via the “contact us” link on the webpage, Fleet Forces says.
(WORK SPACE AMBIENCE WARNING: If you haven’t gone to the site already, turn your speakers down first unless you want to stir your co-workers with a loud, brassy patriotic fanfare, the old bugle call “To the Color.”) Clicking on any of the links on the left mutes the music in mid-riff.
Va. Beach NECC unit nabs Sloan Award
February 4th, 2011 | Awards Diving EOD Mobile Diving and Salvage Navy NECC The greenside | Posted by Bill McMichael
The top 20 percent. That’s where Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training and Evaluation Unit 2 now finds itself in terms of public AND private employers in terms of programs, policies and culture for creating an effective and flexible workplace.
EODTEU 2, located in Virginia Beach, Va., received the 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility from Rear Adm. Michael Tillotson, the commander of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, during an awards ceremony Feb. 4.
“It’s fantastic to be recognized,” said Lt. Cmdr. Oliver Herion, the executive officer of EODTEU 2. “Our team at all levels, officer, enlisted and civil service employees, work hard on the programs that benefit the command and its personnel.”
The Sloan Award recognizes public and private organizations for innovative and effective workplace flexibility practices. Sloan Award judges use a rigorous scoring methodology to determine if an organization ranks in the top 20 percent of the nation’s employers in that regard.
In one example of workplace flexibility, the command recently established an internal college degree program that allows command members to take college classes within its workspaces after-hours and on average, Herion said, “complete an associate’s degree within 18 months.”
Such innovation is essential for EODTEU 2, which provides advanced pre-deployment training to Atlantic Fleet EOD platoons and Mobile Diving and Salvage companies. The unit’s training calendar contains more than 300 days of events, including night shifts and week-long evolutions, according to the command.
To give the unit a breather, the operations department schedules two weeks every July without training.
Sloan Award honorees become part of a national flexibility leadership network representing employers of all sizes and from all sectors to share best practices, exchange ideas and serve as models for other employers and community leaders. Exclusive learning opportunities will be shared with this network throughout the year.