317th Maintenance Co. awarded Army Safety Excellence Streamer

BAMBERG, Germany — The Army Safety Excellence Streamer was awarded to the 317th Maintenance Company, 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade on Warner Barracks here May 25.

The 317th Maintenance Co. is the first company in the brigade to earn the streamer since the brigade activated three years ago.

The streamer is awarded to units only if they had no Soldier or unit faults resulting in class A or class B accidents and have 100 percent completion of composite risk management within the last 24 months at the time of the submission.

A class A accident is any accident where the resulting total cost of property damage is $1 million or more; an Army aircraft or missile is destroyed, missing or abandoned; or an injury and/or occupational illness results in a fatality or permanent total disability

A class B accident is an accident where the resulting total cost of property damage is $200,000 or more, but less than $1 million, an injury and/or occupational illness results in permanent partial disability, or when three or more personnel are hospitalized as inpatients as the result of a single occurrence. Because of these requirements, the Army Safety Excellence Streamer is not a permanent award. The unit must re-qualify every year to keep it on the unit guidon.  

Capt. Earl Elam, the 317th Maintenance Co. commander, said their safety record was attributed to integrating composite risk management into their in-processing so that Soldiers started out with safety on their minds.

The Soldiers worked hard to earn this, said 1st Lt. Homar M. Marval, the safety officer for the 317th Maintenance Co.Lieutenant Marval said he saw what the Soldiers had accomplished and felt they deserved recognition for it.

“This isn’t my award,” Lieutenant Marval said. “The Soldiers deserve the credit, I just did the paperwork.”

Safety is an ongoing theme, he said. You need to always emphasize it because it’s important.

Injuries and equipment loss reduce the effectiveness of the military across the globe.

Practicing safety can help mitigate that risk and maintain an effective fighting force.