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Maintenance center honored

• Civilian maintenance workers at an MCLB-Albany facility are thanked for helping the center win a national award.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — Maintenance Center-Albany unveiled a Department of Defense award for excellence Monday to those who did much to make it happen — the “civilian Marines” employed at the maintenance center at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

Presented last month at the Department of Defense’s maintenance symposium in Orlando, Fla., the Robert T. Mason award goes to “the program that best exemplifies responsive, transformed organic depot-level maintenance to Department of Defense operating units,” among maintenance depots in all branches of the U.S. military, said Col. Daniel J. Gillan, MCA commander.

“Each and every one of you had the opportunity to really thrust our depot to the forefront of all the depots in the country to win this award,” Gillan said to several dozen of MCA’s 1,640 “civilian Marine” personnel gathered around the award in a central depot hallway Monday.

“This is a tribute to each and every one of you,” Gillan said.

Also present was previous MCA Commander Col. Kevin McCutcheon, who led MCA during much of the work for which it garnered the 2007 award. Gillan became commander in July; McCutcheon now serves as chief of staff of Marine Corps Logistics Command, which is headquartered at MCLB-Albany.

“These folks started becoming good; they decided they were going to do that together, about 10 years ago,” McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon noted that this was not the first time MCA had won the award. The maintenance center also won the inaugural Robert T. Mason award, in 2005.

“It’s really about the people — I am not surprised at all the considerable recognition that you’ve gotten over the last few years,” he said.

Civilian personnel Stanley Thomas and Melanie Tilley were among those who traveled to Orlando to receive the award from the Department of Defense.

An Albany resident, Thomas has worked at MCLB for 15 years and MCA for 10. The Philadelphia native is a shop planner, responsible for planning parts orders.

He said the award provides “motivation” to staff and a reminder that they’re doing things the right way.

Tilley, of Doerun, works in the production management office, which procures materials for depot operations.

“We all work in different areas, but as a team,” Tilley said. “All our different areas come together to make it happen.”

Tilley said the overwhelming attitude at the center is getting maintenance done quickly so equipment can be returned to Marines in the field.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes, do (our) part to do whatever the Marines need,” she said.

The Dedicated Design and Prototype Effort, or DDPE, at MCA was integral to the center’s receiving the honor, MCLB officials said in a statement.

DDPE is responsible for the design and construction of a device that helps Marines train for exiting overturned vehicles, the contruction of explosive rollers mounted on 7-ton tactical trucks, upgrading armor and configuring gunner protection kits, and the design, prototyping and preparation for production of a lightweight multiple weapons platform gunner shield.

“The DDPE undertook many of these projects using nothing more than photographs, sketches or brief descriptions of warfighter needs as a starting point,” the statement said.

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