Page 21 - mch1218_Magazine

TOP PRIORITY

RON KENDALL day services they need to accomplish unit and national security
Department of the Army objectives,” Duncan said.
Civilian Ron Kendall was
awarded the Superior Civilian JEFFREY OLSON
Service Medal, NATO Medal DoD Expeditionary Civilian Jeffrey Olson was awarded the
and Global War on Terrorism NATO Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal and Commander’s
Service Medal for exceptional Award for Civilian Service for his service as an environmental
service to ASG-A. engineer and contracting officer representative for Environmental
Before redeploying to the Services on FOB Fenty in Jalalabad. ASG-A Commander Peterson
U.S., Kendall served as the site presented the awards at FOB Fenty on Oct. 11.
manager of FOB Dwyer in Hel- After redeploying to the U.S. in October following a six-month
mand Province. deployment to ASG-A, he returned to his position as a regulatory
Kendall said he enjoyed his supervisor with the Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul, Minn.
assignment in support of the A former U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran who had also served
Resolute Support Mission and a previous DoD-EC tour in Afghanistan in 2016, Olson described
Department of the Army Civilian Ron will think of the people and his time in Afghanistan as a “great opportunity to work with a
Kendall was awarded the Superior Ci- mission here long after he has group of professional federal employees, and to not only make
vilian Service Medal, NATO Medal and redeployed. a difference in the lives of the troops and civilians working and
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
for exceptional service to ASG-A. “The ASG mission kept us living on base but also to help the local community.”
very busy, but it made the year The contracts he worked on both served the base and fostered
go by very quickly,” he stated. “The services and support we employment opportunities for the surrounding town.
provide to the service members takes a lot of pressure off of them,
because if ASG didn’t provide that service, they would use troop
power to provide that support.”
Kendall, a retired Army sergeant first class, redeployed in
September to U.S. Army Alaska at JB Elmendorf-Richardson,
Alaska, where he resumed his position as a force protection officer.

DEREK DUNCAN
DoD Expeditionary Ci-
vilian Derek Duncan was
awarded the Outstanding Ci-
vilian Service Medal, NATO
Medal, Global War on Ter-
rorism Medal and Wartime
Service and Civilian of the
Month certificates for his ser-
vice in Afghanistan during a
ceremony on Sept. 17.
Before redeploying to the
U.S., he had served as the site (Right) Department of Defense Expeditionary Civilian (DoD-EC) Jeffery Friese
manager, also known as the was awarded the NATO Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Superior Civilian
“mayor,” of FOB Dahlke West, Service Medal and a Civilian Wartime Service certificate for his service to the
Area Support Group Afghanistan (ASG-A) at the command’s headquarters on
located in the Logar province Bagram Airfield Oct. 9. The awards were presented by (left) ASG-A Commander
of Eastern Afghanistan. Col. Jacob Peterson.
Duncan said he appre- (Right) Department of Defense Expeditionary
ciates the recognition but Civilian (DoD-EC) Jeffrey Olson was awarded
feels the assignment was his the NATO Medal, Global War on Terrorism JEFFERY FRIESE
duty. “I’ve always felt that Medal and Commander’s Award for Civilian DoD Expeditionary Civilian received the NATO Medal, Global
every able-bodied DoD ci- Service for his service to the Area Support War on Terrorism Medal, Superior Civilian Service Medal and a
Group Afghanistan mission at ASG-A’s Forward
vilian employee should try Operating Base (FOB) Fenty in Jalalabad Oct. Civilian Wartime Service certificate for his service as the ASG-A
to make the journey to sup- 11, 2018. The awards were presented by (left) director of public works and a liaison officer between the command
port our military members in ASG-A Commander Col. Jacob Peterson. and U.S. Forces Afghanistan Joint Engineering at Bagram Airfield,
the field,” he said. “It not only positions in which Friese called it “an honor and privilege” to
demonstrates our commitment to supporting our service members, serve. The awards were presented by ASG Commander Peterson
but provides a first-person perspective on what it is those service at the command’s headquarters at Bagram on Oct. 9.
members go through in the field and the sacrifices they undertake Following completion of his year-long deployment, he rede-
by volunteering to serve. ployed Stateside in October, to his position as a senior project
“My satisfaction comes from being out there with them to manager for the Army Corps of Engineers in Newburgh, N.Y.
establish a new base and to do what I was able to establish ser-
vices and support to enable them to focus on their mission at the Story and photos by Adriane Elliot, Area Support Group-
tip of the spear, vice having to worry about how to get day-to- Afghanistan (ASG-A).

DECEMBER 2018 | MILITARY CLUB & HOSPITALITY 21