MCA 2011 Ground Awards Dinner

MCA hosted the 8th Annual Ground Awards Dinner on Thursday, 5 May 2011 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.  Co-hosted by HQMC Plans, Policies and Operations (PP&O) Division, the dinner served as the opportunity to recognize the professional achievements of the top performing officers and enlisted Marines in the ground community during 2010 and featured General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps as the guest speaker and senior awards presenter.

The dinner and awards presentation was preceded by a no-host social hour and VIP reception for award recipients, families, award sponsors and General Officers.  Dinner guests were summoned to the banquet hall at the conclusion of the receptions and observed a presentation of the colors ceremony with a color guard from Marine Barracks Washington and were serenaded by the Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps.

VIP Reception

Former Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Carl Mundy USMC (Ret) at the reception

SgtMaj Kevin Bennett, USMC (Ret) calling the room to order

MCA President and CEO MajGen Edward G. Usher

Presentation of the Colors

Drum and Bugle Corps marching out

MCA President and Chief Operating Officer, MajGen Edward G. Usher welcomed the guests, acknowledged MCA and awards sponsors and award recipients and introduced LCDR Tremblay, USN, the chaplain, who gave the dinner invocation.

Chaplain’s Invocation

The guests settled down to an enjoyable New York Steak dinner and while a Chocolate Truffle dessert was being served, LtGen Richard Tryon, Deputy Commandant for PP&O took the stage and introduced the guest speaker, General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. LtGen Tryon also acknowledged all of the Division Commanders and the Commander, Marine Forces Special Operations Command who were in the audience and asked them to stand. He gave special thanks to the evening’s sponsors and to the Marine Corps Association and thanked MajGen Usher by name.

LtGen Tryon pointed out that the MCA Ground Awards Dinner fell right on the heels of the just-concluded semi-annual Ground Board Conference which met to discuss Marine organizational constructs, best practices and equipment needs consistent with the Commandant’s planning guidance.  He pointed out that the Awards Dinner was a natural follow on to the Ground Board and then acknowledged all of the evening’s award recipients and pointed out that this dinner served as the first opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of the top performing Marines in the MARSOC (Special Operations Command) community with two new awards.

Humorously introducing General Dunford, LtGen Tryon quipped that Gen Dunford was a devout Red Sox fan and that was like being loyal to a cult.

LtGen Tryon introduces General Dunford

Taking the stage, General Dunford started his remarks by recognizing SgtMaj Carlton Kent, who is ending his tenure as SgtMaj of the Marine Corps along with his wife. He also acknowledged LtGen John Allen, USMC, and commented on his recent appointment to replace General David Petraeus in Afghanistan, stating that he was “…the right leader” for that position.

General Dunford speaking

Pointing out the recent transition of Marine forces in Afghanistan he said that MajGen Rich Mills was back and MajGen Toolan was deployed and that support of our Marines in Afghanistan continues to be of paramount importance even as we look out to the future in terms of organizational, equipment and personnel changes.

He confirmed the role of the Marine Corps as the nation’s premier expeditionary force and alluded to a recent brief to the Secretary of Defense that included real world examples of Corps capabilities in the expeditionary realm with simultaneous TRAP (Tactical Rescue of Aircraft and Pilots), counterinsurgency, and massive disaster relief operations in multiple locations recently.  With budget constraints increasingly affecting the Marine Corps he pointed out that a comprehensive review about how to “reset” and modernize the Corps was approaching with very high stakes as the Corps responds to increasing challenges while still in the fight in Afghanistan and operating elsewhere.

Discussing a range of programs and equipment initiatives he stated that the F35 B program was looking very good, that Distributed Operations was an enduring concept that the Corps would continue and that from a manpower perspective we need to re-look at NCO education.  Further on the subject of manpower, he stated that the Marine Corps enjoys the services of a large number of extraordinarily competent combat veterans and that we can’t lose that experience and need further emphasis on the means to “grow” our small unit squad leaders.  He promised that the next Ground Board would focus on education, training and maturation of Marine leaders.

Following General Dunford’s presentation, the following awards were presented with Gen Dunford and SgtMaj Kent along with the respective Division Commanders and award sponsors assisting in the presentations.  The following awards were presented:

Gen Dunford with SgtMaj Kent

2010 Ground Awards on stage

2010 Marine of the Year Award – 1st Marine Division – Sponsored by Battllle and MCA Sgt Michael A. Monday

Sgt Monday – 1st MarDiv MOY

2010 Marine of the Year Award – 2d Marine Division – Sponsored by L-3 Communications and MCA Sgt Marcus Holan

Sgt Holan’s award presented in absentia due to deployment

2010 Marine of the Year Award – 3d Marine Division – Sponsored by ITT and MCA LCpl Brian Recker                       

LCpl Recker’s Award presented to his parents due to deployment

2010 Marine of the Year Award – 4th Marine Division – Sponsored by General Dynamics and MCA Sgt Brandon L. Herrington

Sgt Herrington with award

Marine of the Year Awards Close up

Outstanding Leadership Awards Close up

Chambers Award for Outstanding Leadership by a Company Grade Officer in the Marine Reserve Component – Sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and MCA 1stLt Guy a Zierk           

Lt Zierk receiving Chambers Award

Hulbert Award for Outstanding Leadership by a Marine Gunner – Sponsored by Nammo and MCA CWO-2 Paul W. Sandy           

Presentation of Hulbert Award to Paul Sandy’s son (Gunner Sandy deployed)

Leftwich Trophy for Outstanding Leadership – Sponsored by The Perot Foundation Captain T. Ryan Sparks 

Capt Sparks with Leftwich Trophy           

Zembiec Award for Outstanding Leadership in the USMC Forces Special Operations Command – Sponsored by Lockheed Martin and MCA Capt Matthew H. Lampert           

Capt Lampert with Zembiec Award

MARSOC NCO/Critical Skills Operator of the Year – Sponsored by General Dynamics ATP and MCA Sgt Ryan Strickland           

Sgt Strickland receives cased Marine NCO sword as award.

For more pictures please visit our flickr account

For biographies of the award recipients and a video presentation of the event, click on the links below:
Biographies

Video(s)

Opening (Part 1)

Guest Speaker General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (Part 2)

Award Ceremony (Part 3)

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the following sponsors for their support of this event:

Premier Platinum: General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Bae Systems, Battelle

Premier Diamond: Booz Allen Hamilton, HP, ITT, ManTech, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce

Premier Gold: Harris, Nammo, SAIC

Premier Silver: ATK, CACI, Deloitte, FLIR, L3 Communications, MetroStar Systems, Motorola, Rheinmetall, Textron

Premier Bronze: Alion, AM General, AS&E, Boeing, CGI, DRS, Force Protection, Leupold, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh Defense, QinetiQ, Sprint, SRA

Bronze:  DCS, Professional Solutions, Sikorsky, Taser, Telos, Wackenhut

Other: Ebit Systems, The Columbia Group, Navistar, Harkins Builders, Blustone Logic