ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Headquarters recently selected Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employee Kristen Fairbanks as the 2015 Family Readiness Individual Excellence Award recipient.
Fairbanks was chosen, in part, for her continued commitment to Soldiers and civilians deploying overseas. She has managed the district’s Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO, deployment program since its inception in 2003. In that time, she’s supported more than 150 St. Paul District employee deployments.
Fairbanks was also a part of the Mississippi Valley Division team that earned recognition as the Family Readiness Outstanding Team Achievement Award recipients. She accepted the team award during the Corps’ National Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., Aug. 4. She was presented with her individual award during the St. Paul District’s Summer Award Ceremony July 18 at the district’s Eau Galle Recreation Area, near Spring Valley, Wisconsin.
“The awards are designed to recognize an individual's and a team's contributions to advance the outreach and quality of the family readiness program,” said Mark Koenig, St. Paul District emergency operations manager and Fairbanks’ supervisor. “These awards recognize innovation, creativity, commitment and care for the family members of Corps of Engineers’ personnel and a commitment to the development of family readiness plans, strategies, systems and products that achieve the family readiness principle of providing the best care possible to our families.”
Fairbanks manages the district’s OCO deployments for employees and their families throughout the entire deployment cycle and sets the stage for a successful reintegration process. She also serves as the St. Paul District recruiter for people seeking volunteer deployment opportunities overseas.
The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2015 $100 million budget, nearly 1,600 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $155 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.
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