USACE Galveston District Public Affairs Office earns 2 Ware Awards

Published March 19, 2013

GALVESTON, Texas (March 19, 2013) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District Public Affairs Office earned two Maj. Gen. Keith L. Ware Public Affairs Awards, placing first in the community relations individual achievement category and second in the community relations program category of the 2012 Army-wide journalism competition program.

The annual competition recognizes military and civilian employees for professional excellence and outstanding achievement.

Category A: Community Relations Individual Achievement - First Place -- Isidro Reyna, APR: Reyna joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Galveston District as a civilian public affairs officer in 2009. As the deputy public affairs officer, he maintains internal and external communications and effectively conveys the district’s engineering mission to a complex military, civil service and contract workforce as well as key audiences ranging from congressional representatives to the public. During his tenure, Reyna has been instrumental in increasing awareness of the value the Corps brings to the local community, state and nation.

Category B: Community Relations Program – Second Place -- Corps Cares: Connecting the Community with the Corps:  A comprehensive community relations program to increase understanding of the Corps’ mission of providing vital public engineering services in peace and war to strengthen the nation’s security, energize the economy and reduce risks from disasters.

“We are extremely proud to have our own public affairs team recognized amongst the best in this Army-wide competition for their professional commitment to meet the challenges of our diverse organization and outstanding achievement in executing the Army Public Affairs mission,” said USACE Galveston District Commander Col. Christopher W. Sallese. “Staff’s coordinated public affairs efforts enabled the district to achieve many firsts and reach its goals of supporting the Department of the Army’s engagement efforts to build relationships and promote awareness and understanding as well as encourage participation in Corps programs.”

A total of 588 individual entries were submitted in this year’s competition. The competition is named for Ware, a Medal of Honor recipient in World War II who was once assigned as the U.S. Army’s chief of public affairs. He was killed in action in 1968 while commanding a division in Vietnam.

To learn more about the award winners, visit www.army.mil/klw. For more news and information, visit www.swg.usace.army.mil. Find us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/GalvestonDistrict or follow us on Twitter, www.twitter.com/USACEgalveston.


Release no. 13-017