June 27, 2024
Written by: Christopher Estrada
The Ground Vehicle Systems Center’s efforts in hazardous materials reduction was put on a pedestal recently when two employees, Jeff Norkus and Tom Sanders, received the FY23 Defense Standardization Program (DSP) Achievement Award for their efforts to reduce the footprint of hazardous materials across the defense industry.
As one of three total awardees across the service, GVSC was the only Army agency to be recognized. The DSP Achievement Award seeks nominations on an annual basis for individuals or teams whose contributions in standardization demonstrates benefits to the Department of Defense.
Becky Addis, Branch Chief for Risk Management/Readiness Assessments & Standardization, said the award serves as testament to the strides the team made to implement the initiative for the whole of the DoD.
“Receiving this award acknowledges the hard work and successful collaboration between members of GVSC, the Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems, and industry partners to improve product quality and safety for federal government agencies and the private sector,” Addis said.
GVSC’s support to PEO GCS to eliminate hexavalent chromium and cadmium on fasteners began in 2020, and since then the team has made significant progress in updating specifications and, in some cases, created new documents to facilitate the acquisition of “clean” replacements for current hexavalent chromium and cadmium plated “dirty” fasteners and other hardware.
Additionally, the importance of the effort increased with the release of the Army Acquisition Executive memo dated 30 March 2022 requiring hexavalent chromium abatement due to its toxic nature as a corrosion protectant.
The recognition of the team’s efforts highlights the attention to detail and expertise befitting of the GVSC workforce, and the organization’s efforts to deliver on the latest ground vehicle systems through the safest and most efficient procedures.
“This team is truly deserving of the recognition this DSP award signifies,” Addis said.
A ceremony will be held to honor the winners on August 6, 2024 at the 2024 DSP Conference in Tysons VA.