DOD Environmental Awards

Team Eglin’s fire rescue staff assist environmental quality team members in rescuing a disoriented loggerhead sea turtle in Florida. Eglin volunteers contribute more than 2,000 hours to sea turtle monitoring annually. The Eglin EQ team received a 2016 Secretary of Defense Environmental Quality Award in the individual/team category. (Courtesy Photo)

DOD Environmental Awards

KC-46 Program Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Team at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, received a 2016 Secretary of Defense Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition award in the large program category. The KC-46A is implementing environmental, safety and occupational health and engineering processes across the lifecycle that meet or exceed the requirements set by the Department of Defense and Air Force guidance, including system safety-ESOH risk assessment and acceptance, hexavalent chromium minimization, halon replacement, noise reduction, emissions reduction, hazardous materials minimization and tracking, and demilitarization and disposal planning. (Courtesy Photo)

AF wins three DOD environmental awards

Published April 26, 2016
By AFCEC
Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Three Air Force installations have been named winners in the 2016 Secretary of Defense environmental awards.

"Our men and women work hard to keep environmental stewardship a top priority while simultaneously advancing our National Defense Mission," said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The three 2016 Air Force winners are:

Environmental Quality, Individual/Team: Eglin Air Force Base Environmental Quality Team, Florida, for demonstrating a holistic environmental management approach to exceed waste diversion and renewable energy goals, maintain compliance and minimize impacts to the mission.

Environmental Restoration, Installation: Beale AFB, California, for using an objective-focused restoration approach and collaborative partnerships to protect human health and the environment, and making significant progress in cleaning up contamination from past defense activities.

Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition, Large Program: The KC-46 Program Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Team at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, for employing a cross-functional team to integrate cost-effective ESOH measures into the full system design lifecycle of the replacement aircraft for the Air Force aging tanker fleet.

Each year since 1962, the department has honored individuals, teams and installations for their outstanding achievements in environmental performance.

In fiscal 2015, the Department of Defense invested approximately $3.8 billion to ensure the success of its environmental programs -- $1.8 billion to cleanup contamination from past Department of Defense activities, $1.3 billion to comply with environmental laws, $377 million to protect natural and cultural resources, and $184 million for research and development to reduce environmental impacts of DOD activities and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental solutions. These investments help DOD to protect human health and the environment, and sustain resources required to support the readiness of our nation's Armed Forces.

For more information on the DOD Environmental Awards Program, click here.