MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- The Department of Defense announced Friday the inaugural winner of the Secretary of Defense Depot-level Maintenance Award known as the Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence for 2005.
The recipient is the Design and Manufacture Vehicle Armor Protective Kits Program at Maintenance Center, Albany, Ga., in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism. This program, which provided protective armor kits for Marine Corps combat vehicles, made the Marines a more effective fighting force and had a profound, direct impact on safety and morale.
The depot-level maintenance 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.
The award is presented annually to the outstanding depot-level maintenance program product line or project, which has exemplified responsive, innovative and transformational support of the DoD.
The Secretary of Defense also announced winners of the field-level military maintenance units. The Marine Corps took honors in this category as well. Combat Service Support Battalion 12, 1st Maintenance Battalion from Camp Pendleton, Calif. was announced a winner in the medium category for 2005.
The Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence goes to the winning depot-level program. The Phoenix Trophy is provided to the "best of the best" maintenance unit within the DoD. Both awards will be presented at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards Banquet Oct. 26 during the 2005 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Birmingham, Ala.