A team representing the Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives received the “David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award,” one of the highest honors among military programs, during the Defense Acquisition Workforce 2023 Awards held Jan. 24 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The ACWA program team was cited for “…leadership and demonstrating the acquisition management and technical skills to implement measures that reduced schedule risk, while maintaining worker safety and enabling the United States to complete the destruction of the remaining chemical weapons stockpile by the Chemical Weapons Convention commitment deadline.”
Mr. Michael Abaie, former program executive officer; Mr. Timothy Garrett, director of Field Operations; Mr. Walton Levi, site project manager; Dr. Candace Coyle, former site project manager; and Mr. Bobby Phillips, technical lead, were among those honored at the Defense Acquisition University event.
“It’s a true honor to be recognized for the challenging work that was done to destroy the remaining chemical weapons stockpiles in the U.S. in Colorado and Kentucky,” said Abaie. “This award represents not only this team, but the thousands of people behind the nation’s achievement to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.”
The event was hosted by Dr. Radha Plumb, deputy undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, who referred to the gathering as “the ‘Oscars’ of our enterprise.” The ceremony drew numerous Defense acquisition professionals from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marines and the U.S. Space Force to recognize significant contributions supporting the U.S. military’s acquisition and sustainment mission.
The David Packard Excellence in Acquisition Award is awarded annually to Department of Defense acquisition program and other teams who have demonstrated excellence and innovation in developing, acquiring, and sustaining operational capability that supports the National Defense Strategy lines of effort to increase readiness and lethality, strengthen alliances and achieve significant reform.
