BOISE, Idaho –
Annually, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley awards the top achieving Army maintenance shops through the Logistics Excellence Awards program. Two shops within the 88th Regional Support Command were recently presented with their awards for continued excellence through this program.
Area Maintenance Support Activity 61 (Ground) in Boise, Idaho, of the 88th RSC, was selected as a runner up for the Table of Distribution and Allowances (TDA) category of the U.S. Army Reserve Command’s Fiscal Year 2016 Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME). AMSA 61 finished second to top overall maintenance shop AMSA 112 in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
“It’s good to be recognized for doing a good job and I think it impacts everybody,” said Launie Mashburn, shop supervisor for AMSA 61 (G). “(The people who work here) are dedicated and they’re here every day. They’re excited to be here and do the job.”
Area Maintenance Support Activity 131 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, of the 88th RSC, was selected as the winner of the Level I, Company TDA category of the Fiscal Year 2016 Supply Excellence Awards (SEA) for the U.S. Army Reserve.
“It actually means quite a bit. It’s a full shop that helps everybody that’s why it means so much,” said Paul Harvey, the heavy mobile equipment repairer supervisor for AMSA 131. “Everybody works together. Everybody fills in with each other it’s a camaraderie thing. If somebody isn’t here, somebody else jumps in and takes care of it.”
Major Gen. Patrick Reinert, the commanding general for the 88th RSC, presented the awards to AMSA 61 (G) and AMSA 131 on September 27 and 28 respectively. During each presentation, Reinert also toured the facilities and spoke with the staff there.
“You’re the critical component,” Reinert told the teams. “If you don’t get your job done, there is no success.”
Reinert presented each member of the AMSA 61 (G) team with a Blue Devil Certificate for their efforts and thanked them for the job they do ensuring America’s Army Reserve remains ready and able to meet the needs of the nation.
“The work that you do and the skills that you have are critical to the defense of this nation,” Reinert said.
At AMSA 131, Reinert presented Blue Devil certificates as well as a plaque to hang in the shop for their achievement in the annual competition.
That critical roles these shops undertake in terms of readiness are not lost on the workers of each shop, most of which are dual status military technicians.
“It shows that we’re all dedicated to get the job done no matter how much personnel we have,” said Cliff Roberts, a wage grade employee and MILTECH at AMSA 131.
At AMSA 61 (G) the concentration is mainly on tracked vehicles, but they also work on wheeled vehicles and other equipment of the more than 20 Army Reserve units it supports. AMSA 131 supports seven separate Army Reserve units and more than $820,000 worth of equipment.
Reinert praised the skills of the mechanics and shop employees for being able to achieve the results they have.
“There’s a lot of what you see when a vehicle comes in that isn’t necessarily in a book. It’s your gut instinct of what’s wrong with a vehicle. Those are skills that have to be taught, mentored and coached over a long period of time,” he said.