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AUGUSTA — The Maine Army National Guard received the 2016 Site Excellence Award for Defense Enrollment Eligibility System and Real-time Automated Identification System in an award ceremony held at Camp Keyes May 15.
As of February, there were more than 1,600 DEERS/RAPIDS sites worldwide, including deployable computers and those on ships. Each year the Defense Manpower Data Center selects one site to be recognized for excellence based on certain criteria and recommendations, according to a news release from the Army National Guard. This is the first time that an Army National Guard site has received the award.
“All of the benefits that are available to service members, veterans and their families would not be accessible without these systems and the services these offices provide,” said Michael Sorrento, the director of defense manpower data center. “This is a mission, and there are people this mission benefits, and there are people, like the two we are here for today, that make this mission successful.”
Rhonda Bonenfant and Sgt. Davis McKenney, site security managers for Camp Keyes, were recognized for their contributions and continuing efforts to improve the customer experience when they need to work with DEERS/RAPIDS. They provide service to more than 3,500 National Guardsmen, state employees, contractors and more than 10,000 retirees and their dependents in the area.
“I am consistently proud of our Maine National Guard team when different segments of our workforce are recognized,” said Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Farnham, adjutant general for the Maine National Guard. “This accomplishment is another example of how our team is committed not only to excellence, but pride in taking care of our Veterans and their families.”
According to the Col. Michael Pooler, deputy chief of staff-personnel for the Maine Army National Guard, Bonenfant and McKenney go above and beyond what is outlined in their job descriptions. Bonenfant works many drill weekends to support deploying units, and both often work late to accommodate soldiers and families who are not able to make the pre-established hours of operation and accept phone calls from other operators to assist soldiers who have weekend emergencies.
