Red Ball Express Award
The Red Ball Express Award is named after a vital logistical operation during World War II that took place in 1944. It was established by the Allies to ensure a steady and rapid flow of supplies to their advancing forces after the successful Normandy landings in June 1944.
As the Allies pushed further into France after D-Day, they faced logistical challenges in keeping their armies supplied with ammunition, fuel, and other essential materials. The existing ports were not sufficient to handle the massive influx of supplies required for the advancing troops. The solution was the Red Ball Express. The Red Ball Express was a truck convoy system that operated day and night, transporting critical supplies from the Normandy beaches to the front lines. The name "Red Ball" referred to the red ball symbol used to mark the route for the convoy. The trucks traveled along designated routes, ensuring a streamlined and efficient delivery of supplies.
Since this award is presented by the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle (or Trucks) Division of NDIA, we thought the award should be a lasting tribute to those who helped pioneer the way for us to serve or support the military transportation industry today.
If you have any questions, please email Mary-Edens McAbee at memcabee@ndia.org.
First Call for Nominations: August 1, 2024
Nomination Deadline: December 10, 2024
Committee to Vote: December 2024
Award Winners Notified: January 2025
Materials Deadline (citations, pictures, bios): February 15, 2025
To submit a nomination, please fill out the form, which you can find here.
Award Nomination Criteria
Purpose
To recognize superb contribution by organizations or individuals to Tactical Wheeled Vehicles through public leadership or achievement that results in significant contribution to the development, introduction or support of Tactical Wheeled Vehicles by presenting the Red Ball Express Award. The recipient of the Red Ball Express Award must have made significant contributions that led to the strengthening of our national security by developing, procuring, or supporting Tactical Wheeled Vehicles or enabling critical technologies that contribute to the same.
Policy
It is the policy of the NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Division to publicly recognize those achievements by relevant government or industry organizations or individuals that are particularly noteworthy to the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle community.
Procedures
The NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Division will solicit nominations for the Red Ball Express Award prior to the annual NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicles conference. The solicitation will be posted to the NDIA TWV division website and via email to the TWV community.
Individuals or organizations can be nominated by members of the TWV division, other industry members, or government officials.
Nominations will be limited to two pages, naming the organization/individual, the nomination category for consideration (government or industry) and describing the individual’s or the organization’s achievement. There is no limit to the time frame for consideration for the award, i.e. it is not limited to the last year calendar year. All nominations must include the proposed recipient’s/organization’s contact information (phone, email, and mailing address).
Completed nominations will be sent to the Vice Chair of the NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Division, who will serve as the Award Chair. The Vice Chair, in coordination with the Division Chair, will form a sub-committee of three to five TWV Committee members who will review all award nominees. The Vice Chair will provide the sub-committee report along with one recommended award winner per category to the Division Chair at least 45 days prior to the commencement of the NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicles Conference. The award winners must be approved by a majority vote of the full TWV division executive committee.
The division will notify the recipient or the chain of command of the selected individual/organization before announcing the winner.
If the committee deems none of the nominees justify receipt of the award, or if there are no nominees in a given year, the award will not be presented.
The Red Ball Express Award will consist of a NDIA Tactical Wheeled Vehicle committee citation and a NDIA gold medal suitably engraved.