Two CE civilians do their part, aid mission

by Airman 1st Class Ceaira Tinsley
23d Wing Public Affairs

7/10/2015 - MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Paying attention to detail, showing initiative and going beyond the call of duty are aspirations of many Airmen and two Moody civilians were recently rewarded for excelling in all three July 8, here.

Elvis Lane, 23d Civil Engineer Squadron pollution prevention manager, and Greg "Radar" Haugen, 23d CES environmental coordinator, received Air Force Civilian Certificate of Achievement Awards for their efforts that prevented environmental pollution and contamination while saving the Air Force money and manpower.

The Air Force Civilian Certificate of Achievement Award is the civilian equivalent of the Air Force Achievement Medal. It is awarded to civilians who overcome unusual difficulties to achieve superior accomplishments.

Both Lane and Haugen are a part of Moody's environmental compliance section, which is responsible for ensuring the base adheres to both state and federal environmental laws. These actions prevent the base from receiving any regulatory enforcement repercussions.

"Through their proactive efforts both of them helped to prevent the installation from receiving a notice of violation from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division," said Greg Lee, 23d CES environmental element chief. "Because both of them did that, they saved the government from having a black mark on their record; we felt that needed to be recognized."

Despite both Lane and Haugen earning the same award, they were rewarded for aiding the mission in different but significant ways.

On rare occasions, during evaluations inspectors make a mistake and Lane identified it and the mistake overturned.

"The inspector incorrectly identified a discrepancy," said William Fowler, 23d CES chief of environmental compliance. "Lane, being very knowledgeable in his program, felt that discrepancy was an error, but he needed to prove it. He did research and found the regulatory law that the inspector addressed, and then he used that law to refute the inspector's write up [against the base]."

Similarly to Lane's initiative and Haugen showcased his expertise by identifying a problem within Moody's environmental system prior to an inspection.

Haugen conducted an inspection of the Army Air Force Exchange Service station before Moody's GEPD inspection, said Fowler. When the inspectors arrived, he had already identified the discrepancy. Haugen proactively put corrective actions in place and coordinated and organized all of that with the AAFES manager alone.

Jointly their actions aided Moody in passing an environmental compliance inspection from the GEPD and the Environmental Protection Agency. Moody would have had to pay $27K per day in fines if Lane and Haugen had not discovered and resolved these environmentally hazardous flaws.

"We've had two major inspections on the installation and both of them have come back with no negative findings at all," said Lee. "In both cases (the inspectors) said 'we have extraordinary and well-run programs,' which speaks a lot about Elvis and Haugen."

Lane and Haugen's 40 years of environmental experience proved to be beneficial to Moody and the surrounding communities.

"In a sense, they are gladiators who remain ever vigilant," said Fowler. "They protect our planet from the spoils of environmental pollution and ensure the highest-level of mission capability is always maintained. Lane and Haugen do what the sign says at the beginning of the base 'doing ordinary things better than anybody else.'"