USTRANSCOM J2 team earns Excellence in Government award

The Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board presented the 2015 Excellence in Government awards May 7 at the Orlando Gardens in St. Louis.  Members of U.S. Transportation Command’s Africa Region Intelligence Support Branch, Intelligence Directorate, Operations Division, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, were among those honored.

“This program is the Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board highlight of Public Service Recognition Week as authorized by Congress, and is our opportunity to salute the very best of the federal workforce,” said Lynn Schulte, Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board.  “These are the very best ‘Top 40’ of the (more than) 20,000 employees in our FEB area.  We received 74 Excellence in Government nominations this year.”

The TRANSCOM team earned the award for work during the Ebola crisis. 

The award nomination states, “The team is responsible for assessing logistics infrastructure on the African continent to support United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) and interagency operations. The branch was challenged by the sheer scope of its responsibilities supporting numerous humanitarian responses to crises, to include the international response to the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in Western Africa.”

Kevin McAuliffe and Petty Officer 1^st Class Carleigh Cook are members of the winning team.

“Winning this award is great recognition for a team that worked hard for the command,” McAuliffe said. “We did our job the best way we know how, and provided the four-star (Gen. Paul J. Selva, commander, USTRANSCOM) all the pertinent information needed to make the right decisions.  I am very happy for our team and everyone who had a part in ensuring we accomplished the mission.”

“There was always an early man and a late man to make sure the entire work day was covered start to finish,” Cook added.  “Sometimes after the shift was over there was still work to be done; therefore, even though you've done your time you are still required to stay because we didn't leave each other hanging. Everyone worked really well as a team.”

According to Schulte, nominated individuals and teams, along with the Combined Federal Campaign award nominees, were honored for their service during the awards program.

The Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board is one of the original 10 Executive Boards established by a presidential memorandum in 1961. It serves the federal agency heads in the Greater St. Louis area, including southern Illinois and eastern Missouri, by unifying their efforts and helping them increase the effective and efficient delivery of services. There are approximately 90 federal agencies represented on the full board.

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