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Soldiers and senior leaders of Echo Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment have continually proven to be a multifaceted, diverse and strategic unit within the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command footprint. On April 2, the company was awarded the 2019 Department of the Army Deployment Excellence Award for the “Deploying Small Active” category.
U.S. Army Cpt. Harry Cambrelen, former commander of E Co, 5-7 ADAR, said they have competed for and won multiple maintenance and deployment awards during the last five years due to his soldiers outstanding accomplishments which exceeded Army deployment standards.
“During Summer Fighting Season 2019, Echo Company was responsible for the preparation of the battalion’s equipment in addition to their own,” Cambrelen said. “The company initially prioritized equipment being transported to Romania to meet the rail-load timeline in support of Saber Guardian ’19. The unit also supported Astral Knight ’19 that tested the unit’s flexibility and proficiency by executing operations simultaneously in Romania and Slovenia performing split-based operations.”
Cambrelen said that Echo Company has a total of 27 different military jobs or occupational specialties (MOS)s within its organization.
“Soldiers are constantly afforded the opportunity to receive hands-on training within their MOS making them experts within that field which directly has an impact on the battalion’s ability to champion readiness and execute all operations with minimal to no issues,” he said.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Braden Farley, executive officer, E Co., 5-7 ADAR, said that Echo Company not only achieves greatness during multinational and battalion-level field exercises and missions but also during daily operations.
“We are consistently sought after to prepare the battalion and posture us for the most lethal and war fighting capabilities with ability to deploy within 72 hours,” Farley said. “Our technical expertise of our leaders and Soldiers in the maintenance and logistical field makes us the diverse company that we are today. We continue to support the battalion through weapons repair, AC and generator services, rolling stock repair and supplying the unit with Class II and IX (equipment and repair parts).”
The key is to continue to motivate soldiers to excel and stand out, said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Matthew A. Kiefer, E Co. first sergeant.
“The key contributor to why Echo is able to achieve the results we have is due to not letting the efforts that are put in go unnoticed,” he said. “Each month, the platoon leadership nominates a “Spartan of the Month” where the winner receives a three-day weekend of their choice. We also continuously recognize our Soldiers through impact achievement awards. We also extend our reach to our German foreign allies and conduct multiple partnership ranges a year where Soldiers across the battalion are afforded the opportunity to receive the German marksmanship Badge, known as the Schutzenschnur. These awards help motivate and push the Soldiers to give their best effort each and every day.”
