2007 Maintenance Award Winners Announced
The Department of Defense today announced the 2007 winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards at the depot and field levels. These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in military equipment and weapon systems maintenance.

The Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the Dedicated Design and Prototype Effort Team at the U.S. Marine Corps Maintenance Center, Albany, Ga. The team provided exceptional and responsive maintenance support to our warfighters by demonstrating the ability to be responsive, resourceful, agile, and creative by designing and prototyping multiple systems in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy under secretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs, and resources. Mason served as the champion of organic depot maintenance for three decades, while helping to transform DoD organic depot-level operations.

There are six field-level awards presented in the categories of large, medium, and small units (two each). The recipients of this year's Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Awards are as follows: for the large category, the 1st Maintenance Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif. and the 56th Maintenance Group at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. Winners in the medium category include the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, Marine Corps Air Station. Miramar, Calif. and the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, Va. Small category winners includes the Navy's Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment, Mayport, Fla. and Army's Charlie Company, 501st Military Intelligence Battalion, Wackernheim, Germany.

The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet on Nov. 15, 2007, during the 2007 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, Fla. Additional information regarding the 2007 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition can be found at http://www.sae.org/dod.