Commissary Agency officials announce Best Commissary Award winners Published May 25, 2011 NORFOLK, Va. (AFNS) -- Every day at each of the Defense Commissary Agency's 249 stores, employees do their best to deliver an efficient and effective benefit to the millions of customers authorized to receive it, according to DeCA officials. The finest of those endeavors were recognized May 24 as the top commissaries were honored during the DeCA 2011 Conference and Training Event. The awards symbolize an ideal of customer service that patrons can also enjoy, said Joseph H. Jeu, DeCA director and CEO. "When a store wins a Best Commissary Award, the glory goes beyond that store's employees," he said. "That store's customers share the wealth as recipients of the benefit from a commissary acknowledged as one of our best." The awards are named in honor of government officials who protected the commissary benefit and championed quality-of-life issues for the military and their families. Winning commissaries by category for the competition were: Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay Commissary, winner of the Bill Nichols Award for the Best Large Commissary in the United States; Minot Air Force Base Commissary, N.D., winner of the Richard M. Paget Award for the Best Small Commissary in the United States; Osan Air Base Commissary, South Korea, winner of the Dan Daniel Award for the Best Large Commissary Overseas; Camp Casey Commissary, South Korea, winner of the L. Mendel Rivers Award for the Best Small Commissary Overseas; and Schofield Barracks Commissary, Hawaii, winner of the Director's Award for the Best Superstore. "It takes a tremendous amount of hard work and teamwork between our employees and industry partners to meet our basic standards for delivering the commissary benefit," Mr. Jeu said. "To exceed those standards, a store is truly representing a commitment to excellence." Runners-up, honorable mentions and noteworthy performers were: Keesler AFB Commissary, Miss. -- Nichols Award runner-up Cannon AFB Commissary, N.M. -- Paget Award runner-up U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr Commissary, Germany -- Daniel Award runner-up Camp Carroll Commissary, South Korea -- Rivers Award runner-up Naval Station Norfolk Commissary, Va. -- Director's Award runner-up Overseas commissary honorable mention award winners: Daniel Award - Camp Foster Commissary, Japan; Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England; and U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, South Korea; Rivers Award - Camp Stanley Commissary, South Korea; Fleet Activities Chinhae Commissary, South Korea; and Naval Station Rota, Spain. Honorable mention award winners for the Continental United States: Nichols Award - Ellsworth Air Force Base Commissary, S.D.; Fort Sill Commissary, Okla.; and Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Paget Award - Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Commissary, Calif.; Fort Greely, Alaska; and White Sands Missile Range Commissary, N.M.; and Director's Award - Naval Base San Diego, Calif. DeCA Best Commissary Awards recognize overall excellence in commissary operations and service. Winning stores are objectively evaluated in four areas: accountability, unit cost, commissary customer service survey and sales. (Courtesy of DeCA Office of Communication)