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For the second year in a row, Soldiers from the 317th Support Maintenance Company took home the U.S. Army Europe Army Award for Maintenance Excellence for competition year 2013.
The 143-Soldier unit, part of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, 16th Sustainment Brigade, 16th Special Troops Battalion, was presented with the award in the Medium Unit Active-Army category during a ceremony March 7 on Smith Barracks in Baumholder.
“It’s a great competition,” said Capt. Erik Amstutz, 317th SMC commander. “(AAME) lets us display our abilities and lets us get that constructive criticism we need to improve. We want to put ourselves out there against the best, so we can continue to strive to be the best.”
Presenting the award to six Soldiers from the Baumholder-based field maintenance unit was Maj. Gen. John O’Connor, 21st TSC commanding general.
Most notably, 317th Soldiers were recognized for completing more than 25,000 field-level maintenance repairs in 2013, as well as requisitioning and issuing more than 30,000 repair parts. The unit’s logistical reach crosses multiple borders, supporting up to 54 customer units throughout Germany, Italy and parts of Africa.
While 317th Soldiers took home Europe’s top maintenance award, they also won at the 21st Theater Sustainment Command-level for the third year in a row.
“When we focus on the AAME, nothing can stop us,” Amstutz said. “That’s what we did in order to get ready for the 21st inspection and the USAREUR inspection. Unfortunately, we were not picked up to get inspected by the Department of the Army, but we’re going to try again this year.”
The 21st TSC runner-up winner was the Grafenwöhr-based 1st Inland Cargo Transfer Company.
AAME is one part of the annual Combined Logistics Excellence Awards Program, known as CLEA, which honors the top units that have contributed significantly to Army readiness in the fields of maintenance, deployment and supply.
