Airmen 1st Class Justin Bleich, a jet mechanic for the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, performs maintenance on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipients of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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Tech Sgt. Candice Schouten (from left), Airman 1st Class Justin Bleich and Randy Grueneberg, all of the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, install a gearbox on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipient of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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An Airman from the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, tightens up the gearbox on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipient of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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Randy Grueneberg, a jet engineer and technician with the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, installs the gearbox on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipient of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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Airmen 1st Class Justin Bleich, a jet mechanic for the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, performs maintenance on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipients of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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Airman 1st Class James Hayes, a jet mechanic for the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, performs maintenance on an F-22 Raptor engine Aug. 6, 2010. The 3rd CMS recently was named the recipients of the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-Level Maintenance Award, small category. (Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross)

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Elmendorf unit wins DOD maintenance award

Published Aug. 4, 2010

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Department of Defense officials announced Aug. 4 that the 3rd Component Maintenance Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, won the 2010 Secretary of Defense Field-level Maintenance Award in the small category. This was one of seven awards announced for depot and field-level units. These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in weapon system and military equipment maintenance.

A total of six field-level awards are 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 Army's Bravo Company, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, Fort Hood, Texas, and the Navy's USS Dwight D. Eisenhower home ported in Norfolk, Va. Winners in the medium category are the Navy's Fleet Readiness Center Northwest, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor, Wash., and the Marine Corp's Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 40, Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, N.C. The other winner in the small category is the Army's Bravo Company, 307th Brigade Support Battalion, Al Asad, Iraq.

The 2010 Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award recipient is the Navy's Emergent Repair Program at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. The program provided extraordinary support to combat forces by meeting or exceeding operational force requirements in every measurable category. Through innovative solutions, their diverse team was able to repair numerous surface ships and submarines in a very short period of time.

The depot-level award is named in recognition of Robert T. Mason, a former assistant deputy under secretary 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.

The awards will be presented to the winners at the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards banquet Nov. 17 during the 2010 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition at the Tampa convention center in Tampa, Fla.

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