In Recognition of Outstanding Service

the

9^th Annual Red Ball Express Award

is awarded to

The Enhanced Heavy      Equipment Transporter      (EHETS) Team

The Enhanced Heavy Equipment Transporter (EHETS) team is the recipient of the 2021 Red Ball Express Award.  The EHETS team assisted United States Army Europe (USAREUR) in shaping its validated Operational Needs Statement (ONS) to deliver 170 HETS to the European theater.  The ONS was submitted in response to M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank modernization decisions, which drastically increased the payload weight requiring legal transport in support of Atlantic Resolve.  The assistance to USAREUR entailed conducting a Whole Systems Trade Analysis (WSTA) that included site visits to the 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Transportation Company, and USAREUR Headquarters (HQ) in Germany.  The EHETS team was the first in the Project Manager, Transportation Systems organization to utilize an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to quickly access (and test) new trailer designs capable of interfacing with the M1070A1 tractor while hauling payloads of up to 85 tons.  Its ability to procure, test, and field new requirements approximately two years after concurrence with an ONS helped close the payload, permit ability, and force protection gaps of the Heavy Equipment Transporter (HETS).  This greatly enhanced United States Army Europe’s ability to project power, reassure allies, and deter potential adversaries.  This effort led to millions of dollars in procurement savings as this success was applied to the Army’s modernization decisions regarding the entire HETS fleet.  The EHETS team worked daily with stakeholders from industry, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), and USAREUR to minimize delay and deliver product in support of Defender-Europe 20.  The EHETS team also assumed responsibility for the Heavy Equipment Transporter System Urban Survivability Kit (HUSK) in 2019. This effort to bring a fully replaceable, MRAP-level protection armored cab to the HETS tractor had been in a development stage for more than six years.  This will enable steady production in the coming years aligned with the Army’s Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Strategy.  Finally, the team worked with the requirements community and Oshkosh Defense Inc. to capitalize on this achievement and ensure the HUSK will be fully compatible with the EHETS M1300 tractor, thereby satisfying the armor requirement for the fleet.   The EHETS’s team ability to work with stakeholders across Program Executive Offices, research labs, sustainment organizations, and resourcing agencies at the Pentagon has been a lesson for the community in proactive acquisition excellence. The Enhanced Heavy Equipment Transporter’s team exceptional professionalism and selfless devotion to duty reflected credit upon them and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Red Ball Express Award and the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Community.