Environmental flight wins DOD award

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Schenck
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Environmental Management System team at Dyess has added another award to its already impressive collection.

The team recently won the Secretary of Defense Environmental Award for Team Excellence.
 
The four-member team is made up of Ms. Teresa Clouse, 7th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight chief, Lt. Col. Clint Taylor, 7th Bomb Wing environmental manager, Mr. James Robertson, 7th CES, Mr. David Laurence, and 7th CES. The teams accolades include, among its many, winning the 2005 Air Combat Command and Air Force-level award for environmental quality.

While the team is being honored for this accomplishment, Ms. Clouse insists it is really the accomplishment of everyone here at Dyess -- from the commander down to the Airmen.

“We have a great team here at Dyess, everyone supports the environmental program, so progress is always exceeding Air Force and Department of Defense goals,” she said.

Ms. Clouse is not the only member of the team sharing the recognition, Colonel Taylor
said “While we all played a part in winning the award, she (Ms. Clouse) was the thunder.”

But he also commented that it all comes down to Dyess’ outstanding stewardship program.

Colonel Taylor said it is the people at Dyess who make winning this award possible.

“If the people are not doing a good job, then it reflects on everyone,” he said, “but like so many other things done here at Dyess so well, this is just another example.”

Some of the hallmarks of the award are exceeding all eight fiscal year 2004 performance objectives. The team was instrumental in saving the Air Force money
through several notable initiatives such as creating the Department of Defense’s largest ice plant, saving $343,000 annually by reducing the cost of cooling the base during the day when electricity is most expensive.

They also purchased Dyess’ first centrifuge recycle unit, saving shops more than $113,000 each year through waste stream management.

These monetary achievements are in addition to the manpower saved through improvements and the reduction, and in some cases, the near elimination of pollution.

This was the case with the upgraded water system and the sewer renovation project, which reduced groundwater contamination to almost nothing.

During Dyess’ 2004 triennial external assessment, there were no violations of any air, water and waste mediums.

“It’s great recognition for our folks to do great things every day,” said Lt. Col. Barry Mines, Civil Engineer Squadron commander, speaking of the environmental team. “It reflects on the squadron and the whole wing because of how they support the program.”