AFCEC team nominated for CSAF team excellence award

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ashley Walker
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  An Air Force Civil Engineer Center team was recently selected as a finalist for the 2013 Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award.

The Air Force Environmental Integration Panel - Environmental Management System Implementation Team is competing for the honor.

The award is presented to a team that uses a systematic approach to enhance mission capability, improve operational performance and achieve continuous results. Competing teams must present a completed performance improvement within the last two years.

"Being a finalist really helps validate the benefits of EMS, recognizes the team accomplishments and their aspirations for the future," said Erica Becvar, Air Force EMS and eDASH program manager.

EMS, the responsibility of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center's Environmental Directorate, provides a systematic process to identify, prioritize and manage aspects of daily operations that have environmental impacts.

"Implementation of EMS permits the Air Force to complete its mission while reducing risk, complying with regulatory requirements and improving processes," Becvar said.

In 2011, a 30-member team worked to create and field a single EMS that would manage all Air Force environmental programs while reducing costs. The team deployed eDASH, the single source for documenting, maintaining and sharing environmental program information across the Air Force.

"eDASH is accessible to all military, civilian and contractor support personnel who have a common access card," Becvar said. "It's a one-stop source for communications and information management. Such capabilities allow Air Force experts to answer environmental questions from the field."

eDASH supports the centralized Environmental Quality and Environmental Restoration programs at AFCEC. Working with other information repositories, Becvar said, it provides a holistic look across the Air Force and quantitatively identifies, assesses and prioritizes environmental risks. The system streamlined program management processes and reduced the need for contractor services, ultimately saving more than $29 million.

"There is more to be accomplished with EMS," Becvar said. "We are supporting and encouraging this type of standardization of a management system approach to other Air Force programs."

The team consists of Karen Winnie, Becvar, Michael McGhee, Lt. Col. Kirk Phillips, Robin Armhold, Connie Strobbe, Patrick Woods, Krista Goodale, Shaun Booth, Travis Hickey, David Swanson, Leanne Tanouye, Shelbi Mackenzie, Karen Kivela, Karla Meyer, Lori Crump, Kerry Settle, Chadwick Avery, Joseph Smith, Teddy James, Frank Goellinger, Peter Heinricher, Beth Behr, Travis Fowler, Kevin Shupe, David Kumar, John McCune, Shannie Williams, Roger Wilkson and Lisa Prather.

Once hearing about the nomination, Winnie, who is the reporting and analysis section chief and team lead, immediately congratulated all involved.

"Thank you so much for making this a possibility," she wrote in an email. "The team size was limited for the award, but it took the efforts of many to get where we are today with EMS."