2004 Gruber Award co-winners.

SFC William A. Covey C/3-319 FA, 82d Abn

Sergeant First Class (SFC) Covey, the Gunnery Sergeant, then Chief of Firing Battery (Platoon Sergeant) for C Battery, 3d Battalion, 319th Field Artillery (C/3-319 FA), 82d Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during its deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) III, is co-winner of the 2004 Gruber Award.

SFC Covey, from the All American 82d Division, is truly an All American Redleg. At 32, he hails from Mannington, West Virginia, and recently redeployed to Afghanistan for OEF V as Chief of Firing Battery for C/3-319 FA.

SFC Covey has served the artillery community with distinction for more than 12 years and has had a more positive impact on the artillery community than most Soldiers will have in 20 years.

Since he entered the Army in April 1992 as a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 13B Cannon Crewmember, he has held every cannoneer position from Advanced Party Man to Gunner. SFC Covey also has held every leadership position in the firing battery. including Howitzer Chief of Section, Gunnery Sergeant, Chief of Firing Battery and Platoon Sergeant. He earned the Master Parachutist and the Air Assault Badges.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

He has spent his entire career in the 82d Airborne Division with the exception of a tour at the Field Artillery Training Center (FATC), Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Never shy from taking on the tough jobs, he served as the Senior Drill Sergeant for 1-79 FA at the FATC from 1999 to 2001. That was the first year that female Soldiers trained at the ATC.

About serving as a Drill Sergeant for female Soldiers, SFC Covey said in the 26 May 2004 article "82d Honors Top Soldier, NCO" in the Fayetteville Observer, "... a Soldier is a Soldier, the bottom line. After the first two weeks, they all look exactly the same--rugged--and there with a specific goal in mind. That's to pass basic training and go to their National Guard or regular Army unit. It's our job to train them."

As Gunnery Sergeant of C/3-319 FA in support of OEF III, his battery was the first to fire lethal rounds in the Afghanistan theater--accurate and responsive for their All American infantry brethren, day or night and in all weather conditions.

The 26 May 2004 article describes SFC Covey's first tour in Afghanistan: "He deployed from January to August 2003. Field Artillery Soldiers and their 105-mm howitzers did everything from shooting to harass [or kill] enemy Soldiers to firing illumination rounds to light an area at night."

In June 2004, his accomplishments and professionalism were recognized when he won both the 82d Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps NCO of the Year competitions. The competitions included the Army physical fitness test (APFT), rifle marksmanship, land navigation, written exam (testing everything from military history and current events to common warrior tasks knowledge) as well as hands-on warrior tasks. Each concluded with a board of senior NCOs.

"Smoke" Covey was selected to head the training team to convert the M119A2 battery into an M198 firing battery capable of conducting any mission in support of OEF VI. During this conversion, he was selected by the Sergeant Major of the Army to represent the Regular Army Component during the Secretary of the Army's and the Chief of Staff of the Army's Armed Services Committee hearings on Capitol Hill.

SFC Covey's other awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (second Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Commendation Medal (first Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Achievement Medal (third Oak Leaf Cluster), National Defense Ribbon and NCO Development Ribbon (third award). He earned an Associate's Degree in General Education from Central Texas in 2003. He currently is working toward his BS in Education.

SFC Covey is an exceptional artilleryman, and his contributions to the Field Artillery and the US Army have been and continue to be significant. His dedication to duty and selfless service set the example for all Soldiers to follow.

Smoke is known for his passionate approach to being a NCO. As he has been heard to say on several occasions "Soldiers and soldiering are what it is all about. I love my duty to provide leadership and mentoring to any Soldier I can reach."

1-12 FA Vehicle Force Protection Project Team 17th FA Brigade

The Vehicle Force Protection Project Team of 1st Battalion, 12th Field Artillery (1-12 FA), 17th Field Artillery Brigade, III Corps Artillery Fort Sill, Oklahoma, is co-winner of the 2004 Gruber Award.

In spring 2003, the 1-12 FA Raiders deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) expecting to provide multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) fires. Upon arrival, the battalion's mission became to recover and transport captured enemy ammunition (CEA) to demolition sites throughout the Sunni Triangle.

As the summer progressed, attacks against Coalition Forces increased, especially in the Sunni Triangle at sites known for their unrest: Fallujah, Ramadi, An Najaf and Samarah. The Raiders carried everything from small arms to 1,000 kilogram Air Force bombs, making the convoys an ideal target for insurgents.

The unit deployed with soft-sided high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) and thin-skinned heavy expanded-mobility tactical trucks (HEMTTs). It soon became evident that these vehicles could not protect the force from small arms and fragmentation so common in roadside attacks. Additionally, like other MLRS battalions, 1-12 FA had a limited number of vehicles with weapons mounts.

In June and July 2003, the Army logistical community worked to provide steel vehicle hardening packages to units in the field, but the packages would not be fielded until late fall 2003. In regard to weapons mounts, ship dates were six to 10 months out, and anything ordered would not arrive in time. It was clear the battalion needed to improve vehicle force protection measures as soon as possible.

The battalion commander directed the formation of a Vehicle Force Protection Project Team consisting of Captain Travis A. Immesoete, the Battalion S4; Chief Warrant Officer Two Todd A. Cobb, the Battalion Maintenance Technician; and Sergeants John Blanshard and Ricky A. McConkey, Battalion Welders. Their mandate was to pursue methods to improve vehicle protection and produce vehicle weapons mounts using the quickest and most efficient means obtainable.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The team contracted with local skilled labor to build the steel doors for HMMWVs and pedestal mounts for the HMMWVs or five-ton trucks. The team developed sketches and mock-ups and explained them to the Iraqis, despite language barriers. Then the bidding process with multiple local national vendors began.

Chief Cobb developed the mock-ups and sketches, working closely with Captain Immesoete, who negotiated with vendors to provide the products. Materials were evaluated to determine if they would suit the needs, given the vehicle capabilities, raw materials available on the local economy in enough quantities and the level of protection the materials could provide. Once materials were acquired, Sergeants Blanshard and McConkey provided countless hours of welding, using 42 bottles of oxygen acetylene in five months, an annual increase of 2,100 percent.

Captain Immesoete worked the acquisition process using purchase requests and contracts for purchases costing more than $2,500 and field ordering officer (FOO) funds for all materials costing less than $2,500. The initial prototype doors and pedestal mounts were bought using FOO money. Eight steel doors cost $1,000 and three pedestal mounts cost $2,100.

The products were field tested for survivability, compatibility with vehicles and protection levels. Some modifications were made, and then the main purchase requests and contract was let for 13 additional pedestal mounts ($9,100) and 160 steel doors ($20,000).

This initial project laid the ground work for steel cab improvements to HEMTTs and steel floor plates for HMMWVs. The protection improvements were so successful that all battalions in the brigade used the designs.

The efforts of the Vehicle Force Protection Project Team were vital to Soldier survival in the battalion and continued during the deployment, resulting in more innovations. These projects enhanced force protection, making Soldiers safer as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) became more sophisticated. The team's innovations allowed the Raiders to fight through 15 IED attacks, four small arms attacks and one rocket propelled grenade (RPG) attack with zero casualties due to enemy action.

The Raiders traveled two million miles in Iraq, transporting more than 750 short tons of CEA, thus validating the importance of these vehicle force protection measures.

These vehicle improvements and several others were documented in a white paper that was shared with many units as well as the Army's Force Protection Project Team from Red Stone Arsenal, Alabama. The white paper is on the secure internet protocol network (SIPRNET) on the CounterStrike Task Force Webpage under "Current Ops: TTPs," dated 30 March, titled "Vehicle Force Protection Improvements in OIF."

The 1-12 FA Vehicle Force Protection Project Team truly made a difference--not only for the battalion and the FA, but also for the entire Army.

The Gruber Award was established in 2002 to recognize outstanding individual thought and innovation that results in significant contributions to or enhancement of the FA's warfight-ing capabilities, morale, readiness or maintenance, It is named after Brigadier General Edmund L. Gruber, 1879-1941, who, as a First Lieutenant in 1908, composed the Caisson Song that the Army adapted as The Army Goes Rolling Along in 1952. (For more information, see the link "Knox, Hamilton and Gruber Awards" on Fort Sill's website at http://sill-www.Army.mil/awards/default.htm.)