United States Department of Defense

SECRETARY COHEN TO PRESENT HAMMER AWARD

Secretary of Defense William Cohen will present the Vice President Al Gore Hammer Award to the NATO Seasparrow Surface Missile System (NSSMS) Capability Modernization Team at 11 a.m. tomorrow, November 6, in the Department of Defense (DoD) Briefing Room, 2E781. Media are invited to attend.

Vice President Gore's Hammer Award recognizes significant contributions to President Bill Clinton's National Performance Review principles. The award identifies new standards of excellence in reinventing government by teams comprised of federal, state, local employees, and/or private citizens. The award symbolizes the dramatic change in acquisition and development practices from the days when government paid a bit more for hammers.

The NSSMS is the first DoD international cooperative project to receive the award. The NSSMS' reengineering effort resulted in $145 million development and production cost savings, $9 million reduction in annual maintenance costs, a 70 percent reduction in system training requirements and provided the fleet with new technology capabilities.