Corps workers honored for deployments

U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville
Published Feb. 11, 2015
Sharon Howard, of the Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, receives the Army Corps of Engineers Steel Order of the de Fleury Medal for her efforts while deployed to Afghanistan.

Sharon Howard, of the Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, receives the Army Corps of Engineers Steel Order of the de Fleury Medal for her efforts while deployed to Afghanistan.

Tracey Shaw, of the Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, receives the Barbara C. Heald (Deployed civilian) Special Award and Superior Civilian Service Award from Huntsville Center deputy commander Lt. Col. Kendall Bergmann.

Tracey Shaw, of the Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, receives the Barbara C. Heald (Deployed civilian) Special Award and Superior Civilian Service Award from Huntsville Center deputy commander Lt. Col. Kendall Bergmann.

The Corps of Engineers likes to recognize the achievements and contributions employees have made during deployments worldwide. Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville employees Sharon Howard, Business Management Office, and Tracey Shaw, Contracting Directorate, were both recognized for their efforts while deployed to Afghanistan.

Howard, a workforce development specialist, received the Corps of Engineers Steel Order of the de Fleury Medal for providing administrative support to the Transatlantic District-North. Howard distinguished herself as a skillful administrator, providing timely and accurate administration of a multitude of personnel actions and partnering with all staff levels and area offices across the Transatlantic District’s operational footprint.

Howard demonstrated excellence when working with stakeholders to make certain personnel actions were handled properly. Her exceptional knowledge and experience enabled her to identify and effectively address personnel issues while supporting her team. Her exemplary professionalism and dedication enabled the commander, executive staff and support elements to flawlessly facilitate and transition competing priorities, which required senior leadership engagement, to meet mission requirements.

According to the citation, “Her outstanding professionalism, dedication to the mission and selfless service are in keeping with the finest traditions of the Transatlantic District-North, the Transatlantic Division, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Engineer Regiment and the U.S. Army.”

Shaw, a contracting officer, was recognized for his contributions to the USACE contracting workforce with the Barbara C. Heald (Deployed civilian) Special Award and Superior Civilian Service Award. He consistently garnered high praise for his ability to provide critical construction contract administration support throughout the Central Command as the first contracting officer forward deployed to the Southern region resident office in Afghanistan for Transatlantic Middle East District and Transatlantic Division. He stood up the Contracting office at Kandahar Air Field for TAM and was lead for the TAM Project Delivery Team, providing expert counsel and guidance to PDT members and executed all contractual actions in the resident office without administrative contracting officer support, providing contract oversight for more than $500 million of combined design-build and design-bid-build construction projects for the Southern Afghanistan Area Office.

Shaw was also distinguished for his exceptional leadership and exemplary service. He demonstrated excellence when working with project stakeholders to make certain projects were contractually complaint and for the execution of USACE projects in Southern Afghanistan, vastly improved the overall contract support and improved the effectiveness and quality of TAM that made a significant and lasting positive impact to the security and stability of Afghanistan.

Jeffrey Davis, deployment coordinator at Huntsville Center, is responsible for filling deployment vacancies for USACE contingency operations around the globe. He congratulated both employees on their achievements saying their recognition was good for the Corps and Huntsville Center, and said Howard and Shaw did a great job during their deployments.

“These individuals made a decision to help out wherever they were needed,” Davis said. “They worked on teams alongside other Soldiers and civilians in a very challenging environment. Receiving recognition for having worked with other organizations in Afghanistan speaks volumes about their commitment to the Army’s mission.”

Davis said he wishes more Huntsville Center employees would consider deployment. Sixteen employees within the organization are deployed.

“We are currently seeking volunteers to support TAD emerging civilian hiring requirements in Kuwait for Camp Arifjan; and, for additional temporarily co-located positions attached to the Operational Command Post in support of USACE requirements elsewhere in the TAD Area of Residency, including potential upcoming missions in Iraq,” Davis said. “We can use the current listing of volunteers for Afghanistan to see if some volunteers might like to deploy for these new missions while we open additional announcements. In the meantime, a number of our Afghanistan only announcements are currently being updated to allow for assignments in Iraq. I’d love to talk with anyone at the center who is considering a deployment and has some unanswered questions.”

For now, Howard and Shaw said they are not taking on new deployments, but would recommend deployment to others.

“I had an excellent opportunity to see firsthand the amazing work the corps does to support Afghanistan. I worked at a different place, met new people and gained an additional skill-set. It was a great experience for me. Everyone should consider whether it will work for them,” Howard said.

For more information about deployment opportunities at Huntsville Center, call Jeffrey Davis at 895-1351.