Brady Beckman was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal for exhibiting superior leadership of the Regional Rivers Repair Fleet during successive record O&M years of Workload and the COVID-19 pandemic.
His steady leadership has ensured the fleet continues to execute their critical mission in a safe manner. He diligently managed the execution of the FY19 Major Maintenance and Repair Schedule despite unseasonably high water during most of the repair season. He recommended and carried out needed changes to the schedule to maximize effectiveness of crews and ensured project budgets were not exceeded. The R3F FY19 execution came in under budget, saving the region in excess of $398,000 in O&M dollars. He led his team to maintain a constant and predictable facility burden rate that allowed R3F to fully function and not exceed affordability and has maintained a positive balance in overhead account.
He submitted the first Exception to Policy (ETP) for the Department of Defense Stop Move Order associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic. This ETP was critical to ensuring maintenance activities on the Ohio River continued, resulting in uninterrupted national commerce. It is widely understood to be the first Department of the Army ETP approved and potentially the first in DoD. In order to ensure his team’s safety during this work, Brady led the development of the R3F Health Hazard Control Plan for COVID-19 that was the first such plan within the district and put in place prudent controls given limited guidance. This plan eventually was widely distributed across the Enterprise as an example for others.
Brady has demonstrates leadership presence within the fleet. He travels significant portions of his time to ensure all R3F Fleets and Repair Stations assets and safety plans are maintained and followed, reducing risk to fleet personnel and ensuring government resources are appropriately safeguarded. His personal leadership at R3F project planning meetings, IPRs and AARs ensure that lessons learned are shared across the fleet and within the region’s Operations Community.
Brady Beckman has also proven to be an asset for the Region and the Enterprise through his vision and contributions on multiple efforts outside of his normal duties.
He served as Senior Implementation Advisor on the LRC Mission Realignment PDT, due to his experience integrating 4 fleets into one cohesive team. He spent significant time traveling and participated in all PDT meetings, providing guidance and recommendations to the LRC Mission Realignment Champion and LRC District Commander.
He has balanced a lack of predictable workload for the fleet extremely capably. While maintaining his focus on the Region’s maintenance needs as his priority, he and his team have found opportunities within the Enterprise to work across Division boundaries to support SAD, NWD, NAD and others during gaps within the schedule due to high waters on the Ohio. These projects have resulted in superior reviews from District and Division Commanders outside of the region. To balance the workload with temporary workforce needs, Brady and his team have used labor from O&M, the Great Lakes Fleets, MVD’s fleet, and temporary workers. Under Brady’s leadership, the R3F are constant innovators who contribute to maintaining the nation’s infrastructure to the best of their ability.
Photo Caption: Brady Beckman is awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal at the recent Senior Leaders Conference. Pictured from left to right: Mr. Stephen Durrett, Regional Programs Director, Colonel Jason Evers, Commander, Huntington District, Brady Beckman, Chief, Regional Rivers Repair Fleet (R3F), Mr. Mike Keathley, Deputy District Engineer, Huntington District, Major General Richard Whittle, Commanding General, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, and, Mr. Joseph Savage, Regional Business Director.