Ceremony recognizes Ohio Army National Guard
as Army Community of Excellence
Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Michael Carden,Ohio National Guard Public Affairs
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Maj. Gen. Mark E. Bartman (left), Ohio adjutant general, stands with Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio assistant adjutant general for Army. |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (09/09/15) — The Ohio Army National Guard was presented with an Army Communities of Excellence award Sept. 9 in a ceremony at Joint Force Headquarters-Ohio, located at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory.
Ohio, which won the award in the Reserve Component category, earned top honors for the best applied self-assessment and demonstrated process improvement in its organization.
“It makes you take a hard look at yourself and ask some tough questions,” said Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., Ohio assistant adjutant general for Army. “Great things can come from that.”
The Army Communities of Excellence (ACOE) program is designed to helps states and installations build cultures of excellence and efficiency. It stresses leadership, stewardship of resources and responsiveness to Soldiers and external organizations. ACOE submission packets are evaluated and subsequent site visits are conducted for finalists, to evaluate each organization’s processes in action.
“Good things will happen to people who do things the right way,” said Maj. Gen. Mark E. Bartman, Ohio adjutant general. “Ohio does it the right way. It blows me away at the quality of the Soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard.”
This year, 41 Army National Guard states and territories, and five U.S. Army Reserve commands competed, with the Wisconsin Army National Guard, Indiana Army National Guard and Texas Army National Guard earning runners-up honors behind Ohio.
“We showed what we are and what we are about,” Harris said. “We won for who are. That is the result of continuous improvement.”
Ohio has been recognized six times in the past; as rookie of the year in 2002, national champion in 2003, 2006 and 2009, and first place in 2004 and 2005.
“Friendly competition is good,” Harris said. “We’re going to continue bringing every bit of efficiency and effectiveness to our systems as we can, because it really is about the warfighter, and they deserve that.” |
