Photo caption: Fort Dix resident Sgt. Luis Trenche-Rivera (center) of the 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation, New Jersey Army National Guard, located at Trenton-Mercer Airport, along with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Don Hildebrant (left) and Sgt. 1st Class Ralph Floyd (right) was awarded the 2002 Battalion Level Runner Up Chief of Staff Army Supply Excellence Award on Sept. 5.  This is the second year in a row the battalion has received an Army Chief of Staff Supply Excellence Award.  Last year the unit won the 2001 Unit Level Chief of Staff Army National Supply Excellence Award, held by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Hildebrant (left).  In recognition for receiving that award, the National Guard Bureau, located in Washington, D.C., awarded the 1st Battalion, 150th the 2001 National Guard Bureau Supply Excellence Award held by Sgt. Trenche-Rivera (center).  In both cases, this was the first time a New Jersey Army National Guard unit had received this type of national recognition.  For Sgt. Trenche-Rivera this was his first year as a Supply Sergeant as well as his first involvement in this national-level competition.  “I had both Chief Hildebrant and Sgt. 1st Class Floyd mentoring me and that made all the difference in the world in preparing me for the competition.  Receiving this national recognition proves that we are the best.”Photo by Tech. Sgt. Mark Olsen, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Public Affairs.

Background on 1st Battalion, 150th Aviation, New Jersey Army National Guard: New Jersey Army National Guard aviation assets, in addition to their combat training, state emergency operations missions, and support of Drug Interdiction activities and Homeland Security operations also have been tasked to perform other “non-traditional” missions.  Army Guard helicopters and crews assisted the FBI in their bio-terrorism investigation by transporting anthrax samples collected at the Hamilton Postal Facility to the Army’s Medical Research and Materiel Command Analysis facility at Ft. Detrick, Maryland.