Photo by Drew Hamilton Paul Schneider, left, commissary director, and Earl Bailey, commissary manager, show off the trophy the WSMR commissary won. The Commissary came in 2nd place for best small commissary in the United States.

The White Sand Missile Range Commissary won second place in a competition for best small commissary in the United States.
The WSMR Commissary won first runner up for the Richard M. Paget Award for best small commissary in the U.S.

The award is given based on the commissary’s performance in the areas of accountability, unit cost, customer service and sales. This is the first major award the commissary has won since the new building was constructed. “I’ve been here six years, and this is the first prestige of this kind since the new store opened,” said Paul Schneider, commissary director.

In addition to this DoD level award, the commissary also won several sales awards from the various manufacturers of the commissary’s product lines. The WSMR commissary was up against 257 other stores in the competition.

Summer hire employees get lessons in ethics and hard work

Photo by Bethany Blundell Nathan Chavez, a summer hire employee at Data Sciences, organizes the storeroom to make it easier for employees to find what they are looking for. This is Chavez’ fourth summer at WSMR.

As the heat rolls into White Sands Missile Range so do a new set of summer employee’s known as summer hires.

Becoming a summer hire is a big hit among high school and college aged students for many reasons, to include great pay.
A lot of high school and college students have very little money and working with the government sure does beat flipping burgers. But for a lot of the summer hires, the money is only an added bonus.

Marcos Ortiz, an Engineer Aide at Material Test Division, is back working for his second summer. “I have heard good things about the program, which is good because I would like to be an Electrical Engineer,” he said. Ortiz said that working at WSMR has taught him how to be consistent and the importance of a good work ethic.
Aug 11, 2010, 06:46 pm

Army kicks off Anti-Terrorism Awareness Month
WASHINGTON (August 3, 2010) –- Army Installations throughout the country will engage in anti-terrorism awareness programs this month stressing vigilance, reporting suspicious activities and protecting Army communities.

In February, the Department of the Army determined Anti-Terrorism Awareness Month would be held in August each year -- a month Army leaders have deemed an appropriate reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“August is a very appropriate month, given that it’s just a month before September, keeping in mind 9/11, and also September is National Preparedness Month,” said Brig. Gen. Colleen L. McGuire, provost marshal general of the Army.
Aug 11, 2010, 06:49 pm