Ohio National Guard News

Ohio Army National Guard strikes gold again!

Takes top honors in Army Communities of Excellence program for National Guard

Story by Bill Pierce, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs

The Ohio Army National Guard is the gold winner in the 2018 Army Communities of Excellence competition among all Army National Guard submissions. The annual ACOE competition measures and recognizes the best performing installations and communities in the Army. In this file photo,


Photo by 2nd Lt. Kenneth Herron, ONG

Soldiers of Troop A, 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry Regiment stand in formation at the conclusion Operation Brave Warrior 17, a multinational joint live-fire exercise led by the Hungarian Defence Forces, which took place in the summer of 2017 in Hungary.


Photo by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn, U.S. Army

Combat engineers from the Ohio Army National Guard’s 837th Engineer Battalion (Brigade Engineer Battalion) and Hungarian Defence Force’s 37th Engineer Regiment conducted tactical bridging and water crossing operations in July 2017 during Szentes Axe in Hungary.

Photo by Sgt. Joanna Bradshaw ONG,

Spc. Tarrah Berg, a medic with the 285th Medical Company (Area Support), takes the temperature of a child in Oct. 27, 2017, in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, as part of Hurricane Maria relief operations.


Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Carden, ONG

A Soldier assigned to the 1st Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment spends time with his Family after the unit’s call to duty ceremony Jan. 11, 2017, in Bowling Green, Ohio. The unit deployed overseas to conduct training operations with the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army.


Photo by Spc. Emilie Sheridan

Maj. Goran Zivanovic of the Serbian Armed Forces instructs Spc. Bane Dodson of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team June 14, 2017, during a live-fire range that was part of Platinum Wolf ’17, a multinational peacekeeping operations exercise conducted in Serbia.


Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Carden, ONG

A Soldier with the 1192nd Engineer Company supervises the demolition of a condemned house July 13, 2017, as part of the South Side Blight Removal and Greening (SS-BRAG) project in Youngstown, Ohio.


Photo by Sgt. Christine Lorenz

Spc. Anthony Skulina of the 296th Engineer Detachment prepares to kick his opponent, 1st Lt. Isaac Bray of Company D, 237th Support Battalion, in their welterweight division championship match during the Ohio Army National Guard Combatives Tournament Aug. 26, 2017, at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory in Columbus, Ohio.


Photo by Staff Sgt. Wendy Kuhn

Maj. Donald McHone (right), a nurse with the Ohio Army National Guard, observes alongside Col. Silvia Silvestre (left), a pediatrician with the Angolan Armed Forces, in the pediatrics clinic in the village of Vale do Paraiso during the PAMBALA 2017 medical exercise Dec. 12, 2017, in Bengo Province, Angola.


Courtesy photo

Four Soldiers from the Ohio Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment spell out “O-H-I-O” during the unit’s overseas mission in 2017 conducting joint training alongside Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army personnel.


Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Carden, ONG

Soldiers with 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry Regiment prepare for liftoff under a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) system exercise June 10, 2017, during annual training at Camp Grayling, Mich.


COLUMBUS, Ohio (03-22-18) — The Ohio Army National Guard is the gold winner in the 2018 Army Communities of Excellence competition among all Army National Guard submissions. An awards ceremony will take place on May 17 at the Pentagon.

The ACOE uses the Baldrige Excellence Framework that focuses on innovation and improvement, and is often used as guidance for self-assessing an organization’s improvements and progress. The OHARNG earned the award based on assessment criteria in seven categories, including, leadership, strategic planning, customer focus and results.

Maj. Gen. Mark Bartman, Ohio adjutant general, said he recognizes the innovations implemented by the Ohio National Guard Soldiers and civilians not only during the assessment period for the competition, but every day throughout the year.

“I am incredibly proud of the Soldiers and civilians who contributed to the Ohio Army National Guard’s selection for top honors as the Army Communities of Excellence Award Gold winner for the Army National Guard,” Bartman said. “This award is a testament to their unparalleled professionalism, commitment and expertise.”

The competition consisted of two rounds, an application process and a site visit, with evaluators from across the country.

The Ohio National Guard uses an innovative 3-year process focused on their Soldiers becoming experts on the Baldrige Excellence Framework. The program confirms the commitment to sustaining a culture of excellence within the organization.

“The ACOE program is truly in our organizational DNA,” said Maj. Danielle Reese, director of the Ohio Army National Guard’s Office of Performance Excellence. “Each year, a team of Soldiers is chosen to learn the Baldrige Excellence Framework. These Soldiers advance each year, graduating to a higher level, which increases their knowledge of the process. The end result is a results-focused and integrated management system.”

ACOE is a Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) program that emphasizes strategies to achieve a performance-driven management system, maximize efficiencies, innovation, sustainability and continuous process improvement in installation management. The annual ACOE competition measures and recognizes the best performing installations and communities in the Army.

The Ohio National Guard has previously taken top honors in 2015, 2009, 2006, 2004 and 2003, and was named Rookie of the Year in 2002.

Learn more about previous Ohio Army National Guard ACOE performances on the ONG website:

09/09/15: Ceremony recognizes Ohio Army National Guard as Army Community of Excellence
05/01/15: Ohio Army National Guard earns top Army award for overall organizational excellence for fifth time
04/24/09: Ohio Army National Guard wins excellence award
05/01/06: Ohio Army National Guard wins excellence award

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