JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Two staff members from the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, a subordinate institute of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, are recipients of the 2016 American Society of Military Comptrollers Achievement Awards.
Maj. Kristi Morris, USAISR chief financial officer, was presented the Ernest J. Gregory Award.
“This award is presented to outstanding Comptroller/Deputy Comptroller who demonstrates dedication to leadership, operational excellence, professional development, ethics and mentorship,” according to the ASMC website.
Julia Arthur, the budgeting officer, earned the Meritorious Award for outstanding accomplishment in the budgeting category.
The awards were presented May 31 in San Diego, Calif., at the National Professional Development Institute, ASMC’s premier training event.
“I feel honored and surprised,” Morris said. “Julia and I were the only AMEDD personnel to receive national awards at the conference, so I think that it gave some visibility to the Institute among the comptroller community. Hopefully, it will help in attracting only the best comptrollers to the USAISR and to other MRMC units.”
Part of the write-up for her nomination submission read, "Her leadership, planning, and management of the USAISR’s funding led to her success in acquisition strategy reform, overhead/indirect charge reform, and execution of cost-saving measures."
“It means that all of our efforts at the ISR are getting noticed,” said Morris. “Specifically, we have really tried to improve budget execution, contracting processes, and our use/tracking of indirect funds. These efforts have been painful for everyone at times. It shows the resource management community that even though RDTE funding is complicated, many opportunities exist to improve on our financial position and provide better support to our core customers.”
Arthur was recognized for her customer-focused efforts which led to savings that paid for additional research on combat casualty care and ultimately enabled the Department of Defense to save more lives on the battlefield.
“This award means some great recognition for my team and the ISR,” Arthur said. “The ASMC is a well-respected national organization of professionals from all services, and I'm very proud to have been selected.”