Champaign Unit Recognized for Maintenance Excellence

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CHAMPAIGN, IL (12/23/2015)(readMedia)-- The Department of the Army announced Dec. 21 Company B, 634th Brigade Support Battalion, based in Champaign, Illinois, is a semifinalist in the Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME) competition.

The annual award is meant to encourage competition and units are evaluated on its ability to use maintenance resources efficiently, sustain unit readiness, improve safety, reduce waste, inspire innovation, recognize Soldier accomplishments and provide positive incentives for extraordinary maintenance efforts. The competition also assists units to identify areas of improvement and helps it assess its ability to effect change within the organization.

Company Commander, 1st Lt. Kimberly Roeloffs, of Chicago, attributed the unit's success to the comradery and versatility of the Soldiers.

"Throughout the year, we performed a lot of road missions to provide maintenance support to other companies and we continue to find ways to stay proactive," Roeloffs said. "We also have the advantage of having leaders and Soldiers who genuinely care about and understand maintenance operations.

"Roeloffs said the competition not only brings the unit together for one common goal, but it has a practical purpose that allows them to look at the organization as a whole to identify shortcomings or deficiencies.

"We have Soldiers of varying expertise that we can pull together to help make us successful," Roeloffs said. "They know what 'right' looks like and do what they can to teach lesser experienced Soldiers."

Company B, 634th BSB is no stranger to this award. The unit won the AAME - National Guard Small Unit Award in 2009. Company Readiness Noncommissioned Officer Sgt. 1st Class Megan Welch, of Hoopston, Illinois, attributed the unit's success this year to its combined experience in 2009.

"A lot of our Soldiers and leaders have gone through this process before so we understood that standard of excellence the evaluators look for in an organization," Welch said.

The AAME competition is divided into different phases spanning nearly six months. Company B, 634th BSB won competitions at the state, regional and National Guard Bureau levels. The unit is one of nine National Guard units across the nation to be selected as a semi-finalist. In January, AAME evaluators will conduct an onsite inspection of the unit as part of the final phase of the competition.

The AAME was established in 1982 to recognize exceptional accomplishments in maintenance operations and to provide added incentive to the competitive programs of Major Army Commands. The program includes Active Component units, as well as Army Reserve and Army National Guard units from all 54 states and territories.