2011 Department of Defense Maintenance Awards Winners Announced Published Aug. 10, 2011 WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Department of Defense officials announced the 2011 winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards for depot and field-level units Aug. 10. These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in weapon system and military equipment maintenance. The 2011 Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the Air Force's KC-135 Stratotanker Programmed Depot Maintenance Team at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. During 2010, the KC-135 PDM team made significant achievements in every segment of the production line, including numerous kitting programs that improved material availability and technician efficiency and continuous process improvements that affected several maintenance procedures. Their accomplishment of superior maintenance produced a record 55 aircraft and performed extraordinary maintenance feats to keep the more than 50-year old jets flying nearly 50,000 annual sorties in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and Horn of Africa missions. The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy undersecretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs and resources. Mason served as the champion of organic depot maintenance for three decades and was instrumental in transforming DOD organic depot-level operations. A total of six field-level awards presented in three categories: large, medium and small. The recipients of this year's Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Awards in the large category are the Marine Corps' 1st Maintenance Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif., and the Air Force's 31st Maintenance Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Winners in the medium category are the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, Naval Base Coronado, San Diego, Calif., and the Army's D Company, 6-10 Aviation Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, Fort Campbell, Ky. Small category winners are the Marine Corps' Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, N.C., and the Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron 143, Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet Nov. 16 during the 2011 DOD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Additional information regarding the 2011 DOD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition can be found at http://www.sae.org/dod. (Courtesy of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Public Affairs)