Hawaii Garrison Wins Excellence Award As Army’s Best

By KAYLA OVERTON

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii Public Affairs Office

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii has received the 2014 Army Community of Excellence Award as the top installation in the Army.

Established in 1985 and sponsored by the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Army Communities of Excellence program is an annual Army-wide assessment of all aspects of installation management.

Last week’s announcement is the culmination of an 18-month process where each Army installation submits its strategic plan, improvements and innovations which are then evaluated and scored.

“This was a team effort throughout U.S. Army Hawaii,” explained Col. Daniel Whitney, garrison commander. “Our dedicated garrison staff has worked with all of our commands and partners on our installations here in Hawaii to ensure the best practices and plans are in place to support our military community.”

The Excellence program is designed to improve installation operations and readiness with effective business transformation processes.

“Your concepts, visionary and supportive leadership, core values, learning and innovation, and organizational performance combined with your ability to focus on results, and creating value plus customer-driven excellence, have put you a pace ahead of other installations,” said Lt. Gen. David Halverson, assistant chief of staff of the Army for Installation Management and commanding general of Installation Management Command, in a congratulatory email.

The garrison’s cost savings initiatives saved $700,000 in fiscal year 2013 and $61,700,000 since fiscal year 2010. Also noted was the garrison’s reduced regulated waste generation by partnering with Hawaii-based Army units to replace traditional petroleum motor pool maintenance products with bio based lubricants and spill absorbent.