The Department of Defense today announced the 2022 winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards. These awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding achievements in weapon systems and military equipment maintenance.
The Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper Award for Software Maintenance Excellence recognizes the top organic software activity that, through its mission accomplishments, provided extraordinary capability for operational units supported. The award is named after RDML Grace Hopper, a pioneer of computer programming who popularized the idea of machine-independent programming languages. This year's winner is Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center Software Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey.
The department also selected the Sustainment Training, Advice, and Assistance of Foreign Military Forces Award. The award recognizes teams or organizations that have excelled at providing training, advice, and assistance to the militaries of developing countries as part of U.S. foreign policy goals. The operational category winner of this year's award is the 551st Inland Cargo Transfer Company, Camp Carroll, South Korea.
The Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence recognizes exceptional quality and achievement in Department of Defense depot-level maintenance programs. It is awarded for outstanding mission accomplishment, effective support to warfighters, and innovative logistics processes. This award commemorates Robert T. Mason, a former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Maintenance Policy, Programs and Resources, who championed the Department's depot-level maintenance program. The 544th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron, F135 Heavy Maintenance Center at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex is this year's recipient.
Six field-level award winners were selected in three categories: large, medium, and small. The small category winners are Exercise Support Division, Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Twentynine Palms, California; and Strike Fighter Squadron ONE FOUR SEVEN, Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. Winners from the medium category included USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL, Naval Station Mayport, Florida; and 48th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom. Large category winners were 2nd Battalion (Assault), 2nd Aviation Regiment, K16 Airbase, South Korea; and Trident Refit Facility, Kings Bay, Georgia.
From the six field-level winners, only one will be selected as this year's recipient of the highly coveted Phoenix Award. Phoenix Award winners are considered to be the best of the best and held in very high esteem as the top-performing field-level maintenance unit in the Department. The Phoenix Award winner will be announced at the annual Department of Defense Maintenance Awards Banquet in December.
