SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District received the Family Readiness Team Award at the annual USACE Summer Leader’s Conference in New Orleans.
The award was presented by Maj. Gen. Bo Temple, USACE Deputy Commanding General, during the awards dinner Aug.1. Monte Howard, Chief of FED Workforce Management, and Staff Sgt. Sung Kwon, Human Resources Specialist received the award on behalf of FED.
“The most valuable resource that any program can have is commitment from the command, managers, and its employees,” said Howard. “The Family Readiness Program has that commitment to ensure that our families are taken care of during a deployment or during a non-combatant evacuation due to a military or civil contingency. That takes a team commitment from several offices within the District.”
The Family Readiness Support Team consists of several members from different divisions within FED. Each provides a unique service to the overall program, whether it is non-combatant evacuation operation program stewards or gathering donations for care packages for those who are deployed.
Since 2003, FED has deployed more than 70 military and civilian employees to the Overseas Contingency Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and civil disasters. Likewise, there is also the on-going threat from North Korea which is why FED participates in the Korea-wide noncombatant exercise twice a year. Each steward has been certified and 100 percent accountability was met.
“The Far East District is the only Forward Deployed District within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, so therefore the District must ensure their employees and families are informed of non-combatant exercises, which means Family Readiness,” said Howard.
Although there have not been any real-world contingencies, the FRG has been ready with messages in the events of inclement weather such as the typhoon scare in September 2010 and as recently as this month. Every FED employee, military member, and family member was accounted for.
“Family Readiness stands at the forefront of our Army Strong values,” said Col. Donald Degidio, FED Commander. “This great achievement here in Korea highlights our preparedness and commitment of our District towards our great families as we remain Family Strong.”