In celebration of having been awarded the Army Superior Unit Award (ASUA), the Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 311th Signal Command (Theater) held a streamer presentation ceremony at the historic Palm Circle Gazebo on Fort Shafter, Friday July 24, 2020.
More than 45 Soldiers, Department of the Army (DA) Civilians, and their guests attended the ceremony with Brig. Gen. Jan C. Norris presiding as the guest speaker. During his remarks, Norris recalled the historic footprint the Soldiers of the 311th have had in the Indo-Pacific.
"We've been in this theater a long time and have always been aligned to the Indo-Pacific," Norris said. "This is great that the unit is finally getting some well-deserved recognition for what we do every day, and that is top enable mission command by providing continuous access to the cyber domain - an important mission for the Army in the Indo-Pacific."
According to the award citation, the command's efforts were recognized during the period of Jan. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018, in which the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 311th Signal Command and all assigned units demonstrated outstanding meritorious service enabling mission command through effective strategic communication infrastructure and information security throughout the Pacific theater for operations during All Things Pacific for fiscal year 2018.
According to DA Pamphlet 670-1 Table 20-1 Notes, Soldiers may wear the unit award temporarily if the individual was not present with the unit during the period cited but was subsequently assigned to the unit. Soldiers may wear the unit award only while assigned to the cited unit. For elements of regiments organized under the new manning system, only personnel of earning unit wear the emblem temporarily. Temporary unit awards will not be worn for official photographs or for promotion/selection boards.
A Soldier may wear the unit award permanently if the individual was assigned to, and present for duty with the unit any time during the period cited; or who has attached by competent orders, and present for duty with the unit during the entire period, or for at least 30 consecutive days of the period cited. When a Soldier is permanently awarded a unit award and is subsequently assigned to a unit that has received the same unit award, the Soldier will wear the permanent award in lieu of the temporary unit award.
Additionally, Norris highlighted the efforts of DA Civilians for Pacific Team Signal and praised their professionalism and dedication in helping to garner the ASUA.
"Over 50 percent of this team are dedicated civilians - experts that we cannot match on the military side," Norris said. "So I really want to highlight the efforts in all that they've done and emphasize that the civilians get to wear this award just like the military."
The ASUA Lapel Pin is authorized for issue and wear by DA Civilians assigned to the decorated unit. Those individuals employed by the unit during the cited period may wear the lapel pin permanently.
How will the award be added to the Soldier's records? The G1/S1 personnel will scrub all personnel assigned to the unit from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2018 to see who is eligible. A list of names will be generated with all assigned personnel. The permanent order will be uploaded into the Soldier's records based on who was assigned during the referenced time period. After the documents are uploaded into the Soldier's records the ASUA will be added to their Soldier Record Brief or Automated Record Brief. Soldiers that are no longer assigned, but eligible to wear the ASUA, can email the following inbox, usarmy.shafter.311-sig-cmd.mbx.g1-pmb@mail.mil, providing the information to include their previous or current rank at the time along with name, phone number, and an email address.
Meanwhile, Norris discussed the continued challenges that the Soldiers of Pacific Team Signal face as they lean forward towards future efforts.
"As we continue to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, we should look at a more enduring forward posture," Norris said. "In that where the forces go, we have to be there to connect them."
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