The Department of Defense announced today that the 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery (Light), 25th Infantry Division (Light), is the 2005 winner of the Phoenix Trophy, DoDs highest award for field-level maintenance of weapon systems and equipment.
The award was presented Wednesday at the Secretary of Defense Awards Banquet held in conjunction with the 2005 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Birmingham, Ala. Jack Bell, deputy under secretary of defense for logistics and materiel readiness, and Dave Pauling, assistant deputy under secretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs and resources, presented the award on behalf of Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The 2005 Phoenix Trophy recognized the 3rd Battalion for successfully balancing maintenance, readiness and operation requirements during the past year while being deployed for exercises and missions throughout the Pacific Commands area of responsibility and the continental United States, and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Throughout these various training and combat missions, the Never Broken battalion maintained more than 4,300 pieces of equipment while logging more than 95,000 miles, delivering 8,000 rounds of artillery and mortar fire in training and combat while simultaneously maintaining an operational equipment readiness rate of 97 percent.
Also receiving Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards in recognition of outstanding achievements in field-level military equipment and weapon system maintenance by organizations of the Military Departments were:
SMALL CATEGORY
Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment (AIMD)
Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base New Orleans
New Orleans, La.
U.S. Navy
31st Maintenance Operations Squadron (31 MOS)
31st Fighter Wing
Aviano Air Base, Italy
U.S. Air Force
MEDIUM CATEGORY
428th Transportation Company
Jefferson City, Mo.
U.S. Army
Combat Service Support Battalion 12 (1st Maint Bn)
Camp Pendleton, Calif.
U.S. Marine Corps
LARGE CATEGORY
3d Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment
Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
U.S. Army
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73)
Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
U.S. Navy
