The Secretary of the Army Award for Diversity and Leadership in Equal Employment Opportunity (Professional) goes to:

Ms. Gwendolyn Taylor
Equal Employment Opportunity Office
US Army Corps of Engineers
Vicksburg District - Vicksburg, Mississippi

Ms. Taylor's outstanding leadership of the Equal Employment Opportunity Program has caused it to excel tremendously. The EEO Office, with the collaborative support of management and the civilian personnel advisory center, is a model EEO program, ensuring a climate and workplace environment free from discrimination and distractions from the mission accomplishment. Ms. Taylor's vision and dedication have fostered a fair and level playing field where all employees have the opportunity to achieve their full potential based on merit principles.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Diversity and Leadership in Equal Employment Opportunity (Leader) goes to:

Col Anthony D. Reyes
Garrison Commander
U.S. Army Installation Management Command Headquarters,
U.S. Army Garrison - Fort Monroe, Virginia

Colonel Reyes has provided outstanding leadership and made significant contributions to the advancement of diversity and leadership program goals, demonstrating his commitment to an environment free from harassment, discrimination and retaliation. He has effectively promoted diversity and equal employment opportunity throughout the workforce, holding managers and supervisors accountable and recognizing those who practice and support eeo and diversity. His exceptional leadership and emphasis on motivating employees to provide exceptional base services up until closure as a Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) installation have proven vital to the installation's ability to meet the BRAC mandate and to transition the employees with excellence and dignity.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Diversity and Leadership in Equal Employment Opportunity (Leader) goes to:

Mr. Ronald E. Chronister
Deputy to the Commander
U.S. Army Aviation and Mmissile Command
Redstone Arsenal, Alabama

Mr. Chronister's leadership in envisioning and directing the establishment of an education outreach program, expanding the summer student employment program and his support and commitment to integration of equal employment opportunity into the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile life cycle management command's strategic mission contributed significantly to enhancing the future readiness of the command and the U.S. Army.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization goes to:

Mr. Kresten Cook
Deputy Commander for Maintenance Operations
Corpus Christi Army Depot
Corpus Christi, Texas


Mr. Cook is commended for his outstanding contributions and leadership in advancing the role of small businesses in carrying out the Army's Aviation mission. As Director of Engineering Services, Corpus Christi Army Depot in FY10, his proactive approach to acquisition planning and support of initiatives to reach out to small businesses, contributed significantly to the ability of the orpus Christi Army Depot Contracting Center to award over $126M to small business firms. These dollars reflect a 147% increase over awards made to small business firms in FY09 and a similar increase over FY08.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Editor of the Year (Command) goes to:

Ms. Miriam Benz
Writer- Editor
Document Management Branch
Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Activity
U.S. Army Installation Management Command,
Europe Region - Schwetzingen, Germany

Ms. Benz was unable to attend the ceremony, but Mr. John B. Nerger, the Executive Director of the United States Army Installation Management Command accepted on her behalf.

Ms. Miriam Benz is recognized for her success in editing administrative command publications for the Army in Europe. Through her editing, Ms. Benz upheld the prime directive of army editors by helping military authors achieve their objectives. She did this by correcting substantive errors, reorganizing text to make it more logical, and applying the principles of the Army Readability Program to make technical and specialized terminology easy to read. In doing so, she helped ensure that directives issued to the Army in Europe would be effective. By using her editing skills to support the Army's objectives in Europe, Ms. Benz displayed the highest standard of Civilian Service to the United States Army.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Editor of the Year (Departmental) goes to:

Ms. Kathleen A. Anshant
Writer-Editor
Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army
The Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia

Ms. Anshant is an outstanding editor who possesses the perfect blend of communication skills and technical editorial expertise. Ms. Anshant's phenomenal achievements include writing and editing numerous Army Directives, Department of the Army General Orders, and Army Regulations. These publications have a direct impact on armywide missions, including the Aarmy National Cemeteries program, u.s. army cyber command, and the reserve component electronic based distributed learning. The complexity, technical nature, extreme sensitivity and visibility Of preparing these publications for the secretary of the army demonstrate Ms. Anshant's commitment to uncompromising quality and excellence.

The Secretary of the Army Award for Publications Improvements for a Command Group goes to:

Document Management Branch
Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Activity
U.S. Army Installation Management Command,
Europe Region - Schwetzingen, Germany

This group is recognized for consolidating two websites (the Army in Europe Publishing System and the Library of Army in Europe Publications and Forms) into one website that meets all requirements for ordering publications in Europe and in areas of overseas contingency operations and provides online access to departmental, doctrinal and Army in Europe publications and forms to personnel in Europe and Southwest Asia. This new site is called the Army in Europe Library & Publishing System. The team also created a classified version of AEPUBS to give intelligence and operations customers access to publications and forms without having to switch to an unclassified system. The team made unprecedented improvements to the Army in Europe Publishing program that will extend throughout Europe and to every area of overseas contingency operations where units depend on AEPUBS for publications support.

The first Awardee for this command group is:

Ms. Natascha J. Syre
Army in Europe Publications Control Officer
Document Management Branch
Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Activity
U.S. Army Installation Management Command,
Europe Region - Schwetzingen, Germany

And the second awardee for this command group is:

Mr. Robert l. Mohler
Information Technology Specialist
Document Management Branch
Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Activity
U.S. Army Installation Management Command,
Europe Region - Schwetzingen, Germany

The third awardee for this command group is:

Ms. Tamara Pasquale
Web Designer
Document Management Branch
Host Nation Liaison Field Operating Activity
U.S. Army Installation Management Command,
Europe Region - Schwetzingen, Germany

Ms. Pasquale was unable to attend the ceremony, but Mr. John B. Nerger, the Executive Director of the United States Army Installation Management Command accepted on her behalf.

The Suggester of the Year Civilian Award goes to:

Mr. Jordan T. Dant
Explosives Handler
Industrial Operations Division
Manufacturing and Engineering Directorate
Crane Army Ammunition Activity - Crane, Indiana


Mr. Dant is recognized for the outstanding initiative and creativity shown in his suggested and implemented improvements to the 57 A/B Payload Assemblies Pouring Operation which has eliminated a 6% rejection rate. This translates to a first year savings benefit of $548,263.99.

The Suggester of the Year Military Award goes to two individuals, Chief Warrant Officer Four Merle Goodall and Chief Warrant Officer Four James Lemons. They are officially commended for an adopted suggestion which resulted in the redesign of the current UH-60 cockpit ballistic armored panel wing. The redesigned cockpit armored wing affects missions and personnel of several regional areas (OIF/OEF) in multiple Department of Defense services (Army and Air Force). The redesign will enhance crew and passenger survivability for all Army UH/HH/MH-60 and USAF HH/MH-60 aircraft during all types of combat operations. UH-60 combat operations include but are not limited to Air Assault, Medevac, Search & Rescue, Sspecial Operations and General Support Missions in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The improved system will enhance the safety and survivability of all aircrews and passengers of the aforementioned aircraft.

The first Awardee for the Suggester of the Year is:

Chief Warrant Officer Four Merle D. Goodall Battalion Standardization Instructor Pilot
U.S. Army Installation Management Command
Fort Campbell, Kentucky

The next Awardee for the Suggester of the Year is:

Chief Warrant Officer Four James E. Lemons
Instructor Pilot/Maintenance Test Pilot Evaluator
F company
1-212 Aviation Regiment
110st Aviation Brigade - Fort Rucker, Alabama

The next award category to be presented is the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. This is the highest-level award available to Civilians within the Department of the Army.

The first awardee is:

Mr. Lloyd C. Caldwell
Director of Programs for the North Atlantic Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Brooklyn, New York


Mr. Caldwell's superb leadership and keen strategic vision were instrumental in the development and execution of all military, civil works, environmental, interagency and international programs throughout the North Atlantic Division. His outstanding technical expertise and supervision ensured the resounding success of a Joint Staff of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel responsible for engineering and construction across the entire spectrum of national infrastructure development and support to coalition forces throughout Iraq.

The second awardee is:

Mr. Larry A. Kappel
Chief, Facilities Management
Bassett Army Community hospital
U.S. Army Medical Department Activity Alaska
Fort Wainwright, Alaska

Mr. Kappel's tireless dedication to duty and leadership resulted in the complete replacement, renewal and remodeling of all eleven U.S. Army Medical Department activity facilities in Alaska. His direct interface with the planning, acquisition and acceptance of both the Army's newest hospital and a new clinic in the U.S. Army Alaskan region have set the standard for soldier care in the U.S. Army. He is a proven and tested leader with a reputation for success in all his endeavors.

Our next awardee is:

Ms. Michelle P. Shanks
Data Quality Manager
Resource Management Division
Reynolds Army community Hospital
Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Ms. Shanks' knowledge and experience distinguish her as an outstanding leader and professional in her field. Her dedication to mission accomplishment enabled her to successfully elevate Behavioral Health care by developing a tool which ensured each soldier was screened for high risk behaviors when transitioning from active duty service, thereby minimizing the risk of missing information pertinent to an accurate diagnosis. Her outstanding performance has significantly contributed to the successful accomplishment of the Behavioral Health mission, the Army Medical Command and the United States Army.

And our final awardee is:

Mr. Michael D. Starry
Deputy Director and,
for varying periods of time,
the Acting Director, Concept Development and Learning Directorate
Army Capabilities Integration Center
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
Fort Monroe, Virginia

Mr. Starry's personal dedication, technical acumen and professional perseverance resulted in the implementation of the Campaign of Learning for Army which delivers interim solution strategies for the Army's most pressing capabilities and requirements. He was successful in setting the conditions to allow generating force leaders to think critically about the implications of a dynamic operational environment and evolving threats to our national security.