4 Guam soldiers selected to receive Secretary of Defense Award

Four soldiers assigned to the Guam National Guard’s 1st-294th Infantry Regiment, have been selected to receive a Secretary of Defense Award based on their performance while deployed with Task Force Guam in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan last year.

According to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistic and Material Readiness, each year the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards Program recognizes outstanding achievements by field-level units engaged in military equipment and weapon system maintenance within the Department of Defense.

Based on the support provided by the Guam soldiers, the Strategic Initiatives Teams in Afghanistan in fiscal year 2013 were assured mission success. The four soldiers who were part of a personnel security detachment that were singled out for this award are Staff Sgt. Rodney Retuyan, Sergeant Gregory Pecina, Specialist Steven Quinata and Specialist Eric Gatmen. Their award nomination came directly from John B. Johns, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Maintenance and Policy Programs.

The citation for the award reads “The Logistics Advisory and Strategic Initiatives Teams, ISAF, HQ, are jointly charged with ensuring that the Afghan Ministry of Defense’s multi-echelon sustainment system is operationally-driven, readiness-focused, and affordable. In 2013, the teams helped lead the development of long-term sustainment efforts for ground wheeled tactical vehicles. Those efforts included establishing preventive maintenance as a command priority by introducing standardized preventive maintenance checks and services to the Afghan National Army and formalized reporting practices to its leaders. The program was institutionalized through the distribution of handbooks that used clear imagery to allow technically and educationally inexperienced operators the ability to document complex deficiencies and identify needed repair parts. These efforts significantly impacted operational readiness and the accuracy of readiness reporting as a whole.

The key to the teams’ success was the use of consistent readiness measures and the routine reporting of equipment status-the cornerstones of a readiness-driven logistics system. These successes clearly justify the Logistics Advisory and Strategic Initiatives Teams, ISAF, HQ, being designated as the winner of the 2014 Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence in Maintenance Training, Advice, and Assistance of Foreign Security Forces”.

“We are obviously very proud of the soldiers who continue to perform at high standards no matter where they are located and what the mission is. It is indeed an honor, but not a surprise, that service members from Guam were selected to receive such as prestigious award. Our Soldiers and Airmen continue to step up and make Guam and the National Guard proud,” said Maj. Gen. Benny M. Paulino, The Adjutant General of the Guam National Guard.

The soldiers are scheduled to receive their award at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards Banquet Ceremony in Birmingham, Alabama, next week. (Guam National Guard)