FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - (October 5, 2012) "It's one of my favorite things that I do, as the commander here at Fort Wainwright," said Col. Ronald M. Johnson, garrison commander.

He was talking about the civilian employee recognition program ceremony, an opportunity for him to recognize Fort Wainwright's outstanding people and teams for customer service and efforts that go above and beyond, he said.

Several Fort Wainwright employees were recognized during the garrison awards ceremony Sept. 21, including Mark Renner, the explosives handler supervisor and Richard Cerelli, the packing inspector leader for the Directorate of Logistics, specializing in transportation and personal property.

Renner, who was named the supervisor of the quarter, has the number-one item for turnaround (except for food), but still maintains 100 percent accountability, said his supervisor, Lincoln Hawkes. In addition, he manages a staff of eight, rated a highly satisfactory on his June 2012 inspection and maintains a perfect safety record, with his staff all being forklift-qualified and operating year-round.

Renner works as the ammunition accountability officer and credits his coworkers for the success of the mission, saying they have really good processes for accountability.

"Every time a magazine is turned in, a mini inventory is done. That process has let us have phenomenal accuracies of our inventories are which are not done once or twice a year, but quarterly, 100 percent. We are counting bullets all the time. When you're dealing with millions of bullets, it is pretty tough to be as accurate as we are, but the guys are phenomenal, they make it happen." he said.
"He is a great individual and for him Soldiers come first," Hawkes said.

Work is not his whole life. He and his wife, Rochelle have been married 25 years and have three children. Renner does a lot of volunteer work with his church. He says he is just trying to help the community, those who are not as fortunate as he is.

"I get great pleasure from it, it is the right thing to do," he said.
"I enjoy my job, it is never boring, there are different challenges every day," said Richard Cerelli, the packing inspector leader for the Directorate of Logistics, who is this quarter's employee of the month for Fort Wainwright.

"There is always something new to learn. It is never the same job, no dull routine like some other jobs with different challenges every day," he said.

Cerelli is responsible for making a move as painless as it can be. He goes to residences and inspects contractors' work during pickup and delivery of household goods. He checks packing, crating, loading, shipping, unloading, uncrating and unpacking of goods and assisting customers in initiating claims procedures.

Cerelli and his wife Esther have been married 17 years and have three children. He is active in his church and volunteers with Approved Workmen are not Ashamed, or AWANA, and Love Inc., and enjoys spending time shooting with his son, biking, bowling, hiking and fishing for salmon and grayling.
He enjoys and appreciates his coworkers. They are very professional on the jobs, he said. "My former boss, set the bar very high and I am trying to live up to that bar."

Cerelli has been attending leadership classes and being mentored since he took the position said his supervisor, Jeffrie Clarke. In addition to assigned duties, he has assisted with TMP operations during deployments and redeployments.

Clarke said Cerelli also mentors coworkers and they are comfortable seeking advice from him. He is a hard worker and he is there when you need him.

Employee and supervisor of the quarter were not the only awards given.
A new awards category was created this year and was awarded to Katherine Millburg for 2012 Journeyman of the Year, for the work that she does and her support of the people who work for her.
"I am very honored to have been awarded this," Millburg said. "Of course I want to say thank you for everyone who works for me for this award. And I want to thank my supervisor, because without his writing, I wouldn't have got it."

In addition, several people received recognition for time in service: Thomas Klumb, Michelle Hunter, William Orth, Steven Huisman, Greg Handy and Robert Rayner who had a total of 40 years of service.
Numerous other people took home awards, ranging from garrison coins, to achievement medals for civilian service and more.

"It's important to me, it's something I want to do and we need to do it," said Johnson about recognizing these employees.