By Brian Hill, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (May 26, 2023) — Three Fort Leonard Wood Army civilians are recipients of the Greater St. Louis Federal Executive Board’s 2023 Excellence in Government awards.
The winners, who were announced on May 5, include Becky Britt, with Company D, 31st Engineer Battalion, who won the Individual Community Service Award; Elizabeth Williams, with the U.S. Army Military Police School, who won the Individual Leadership Award; and James Winn, with Company F, 1st Battalion, 48th Infantry Regiment, who won the Individual Clerical Award.
According to Anita Leach, executive director of the Greater St. Louis FEB, the awards each year honor “outstanding government workers.”
“This year, we received over 70 nominations and chose 15 winners,” Leach said. “The judges are retired federal employees.”
Britt, an operations assistant with Delta Company, volunteered more than 3,000 hours in 2022, with various community service organizations and activities, including as a scout leader with Scouts of America, and as a coach and board member for a local, non-profit sports team that empowers women’s fitness, team building and mental health.
Britt is a community leader, who balances her time well between her family, career and community, wrote Capt. Victoria Warrington, Delta Company commander, in Britt’s award nomination.
“She excels in her full-time position within the Department of Defense and finds ways to continue to improve every day,” Warrington wrote, noting Britt’s enthusiasm and dedication are contagious and have had a beneficial and lasting effect on the children in her local community.
Williams, a supervisory training specialist and team leader with the MP School’s Protective Services Training Branch, is an exceptional leader, mentor, teacher and trainer, wrote Jeff Bishop, PSTB chief, in his nomination of Williams for this award.
Williams works with the three-week Protective Services Training Course, one of the most sought-after USAMPS courses that trains all branches of the military and DOD civilians in aspects related to the protection of DOD executives and key government leaders during world-wide operations, Bishop wrote.
“From weather-related delays and inconveniences to manpower constraints, Mrs. Williams has always found solutions that have provided the best possible product to an ever-increasing population of protection specialists who have graduated from the PSTC,” Bishop wrote.
Winn, an operations assistant with Foxtrot Company, is the unit’s “problem solver and quality assurance for all clerical duties,” wrote Capt. Raman Botta, former Foxtrot Company commander, who nominated Winn for the award.
Winn “tackles significant challenges” in the verification and accurate reporting of initial entry training personnel, as numerous Soldiers are constantly inbound and outbound from the unit.
“These IET Soldiers come from all walks of like and present numerous and unique issues and concerns that requires expert clerical skills,” Botta wrote. “I cannot fathom our operations being performed to the same standard without Mr. Winn’s support.”
The Greater St. Louis FEB — which is composed of more than 90 federal agencies across a region spanning eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and southwestern Kentucky — was one of the original 10 established by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, for the purpose of unifying the efforts of government agencies and enabling them to increase the effective and efficient delivery of services. Today, 28 FEBs are overseen by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
More information on the Greater St. Louis FEB can be found here.
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About Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains nearly 80,000 military and civilians each year.
Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.
Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.
More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission