Air Force wins two DOD environmental awards

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Schneider
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Department of Defense announced today that the Air Force is the recipient of two 2015 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards.

The Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, environmental branch won the Environmental Quality Industrial Installation award, and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Paul Green earned the Cultural Resources Management Individual/Team award.

"Their efforts strengthen the department's position as an environmental leader by integrating cost-effective environmental management with our national defense mission, thereby saving critical resources and helping to keep our country safe through sustained mission readiness," said Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, when announcing the awards.

The Robins environmental management branch implemented an award-winning recycling program responsible for annually diverting more than 2,200 tons of recyclables from landfills, a community-partnered transportation incentive program and a robust water quality program that manages 549 million gallons of wastewater per year.

"This is great news," said Otis Hicks, 78th Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Group director. "Our organization won the DOD Environmental Quality Industrial Installation Award in 2013, so this is 'back-to-back' recognition.  It truly takes a team of dedicated people and installation partnering to excel at this level. This win is not only for our CE team, but it's a testament to the support we receive across Robins Air Force Base every day."

Green, a cultural resources subject matter specialist, was recognized for protecting sensitive historic properties and tribal areas.

His accomplishments include curating nearly 30,000 historically significant Air Force engineering plans and drawings, and developing cultural property planning data in support of contingency operations for multiple host nations.

"Dr. Green has dedicated countless hours to safeguard Air Force cultural assets worldwide and protect foreign cultural heritage during armed conflict and contingency operations," said Joe Sciabica, AFCEC director. "His exceptional accomplishments have distinguished him as a leader in cultural preservation and this recognition is greatly deserved."

In fiscal 2014, DOD invested approximately $4.1 billion to ensure the success of its environmental programs -- $2.0 billion for environmental restoration activities, $1.9 billion for environmental quality activities and $203.1 million for environmental technology.

These investments protect and sustain the environment while strengthening operational capacity, reducing operational costs and enhancing the well-being of military members, civilians and their families in addition to  communities.
Each year since 1962, the department has honored individuals, teams and installations for their outstanding achievements in environmental performance.

For more information on the DoD Environmental Awards Program, visit: www.denix.osd.mil/awards.