M7 Aerospace was selected as one of the recipients the Army Aviation Systems Weapon Systems Award for 2010. This prestigious award is given to government contractors that have been instrumental in assisting the Army during the past year.

The process to select the candidates include every Army Program Manager in the world. They select one contractor that has performed or provided an exemplary service in support of the War fighter.

M7 was selected from a selected list of more than 53 other contractors by one of the US Army’s most distinguished Program Manager’s, Col. Anthony Potts. Out of all of the contractor candidates only eight Program Managers and Contractors are selected. This is the first time in eleven years the Program Manager at Redstone Arsenal was selected as one of the winners of the award.

One of the key events that M7 C-23 personnel supported in 2009 was the recovery and repair of four Sherpa aircraft that were damaged in a wind storm when the hangar in Balad, Iraq collapsed in July 2009.

During the storm, M7 maintenance personnel recognized the event early on and rapidly began to tow the aircraft from under the failing structure which resulted in only minor damage to one of the aircraft. The remaining aircraft damage ranged from moderate to severe. Two of the four aircraft were possible candidates for retirement due to the extent of the damage.

Joe Bloom and John Czajka hand picked an evaluation team, John Popecki from Alaska and Owen Green from the MRO, and sent them to evaluate the aircraft for repairs. Within weeks the C-23 team developed repair plans and non-destructive testing processes in order to return all of the aircraft to service.

The Army has the confidence in M7 to abandon the idea of retiring the aircraft based on out previous successful major repairs and modifications performed in theatre.

The final aircraft was repaired in December 2009 and all four aircraft were flown back to San Antonio for RESET inspections. Two of the damaged aircraft have already returned back to Iraq to perform their critical mission supporting the war effort.

This level of effort performed by the MRO and C-23 LCCS team set M7 apart from hundreds of other government contractors by our commitment to protect Army assets, the ability to rapidly develop creative repair and inspection solutions and perform major structural repairs in harsh and dangerous environments.

One of the M7 Government Services and M7 C-23 teams motto is: Failure is not an option.

We live by that motto.  

Philip J. O'Connor