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Chief of Staff of the Army
Deployment Excellence Award

To recognize Army units (Active, Reserve, National Guard) and installation for outstanding accomplishments which meet or exceed Army deployment standards

Chief of Staff of the Army Deployment Excellence Award Winners 2026

Winner | Deployment Excellence Award “Best of the Best”

1st Infantry Division Artillery

1st Infantry Division Artillery

  • Fort Riley, KS

Runner Up

7th Infantry Division

7th Infantry Division

  • Multi-Domain Command – Pacific

Winner | Installation

1st Infantry Division Artillery

1st Infantry Division

  • Fort Riley, KS

Runner Up | Installation

404th Army Field Support Battalion

404th Army Field Support Battalion

  • Lewis McChord, WA

Deployment Excellence Award

The Deployment Excellence Award is designed to recognize Army units (Active, Reserve, National Guard) and for outstanding accomplishments which meet or exceed Army deployment standards. Appropriate recognition is made of soldiers and/or civilians of a unit/installation for their ongoing efforts to establish and sustain excellence in support of unit deployments and its mission accomplishment. The DEA program is co-sponsored by the Army G-3 and G-4. The Chief of Transportation (COT) is the executive agent for the program.

This program is designed to:

  • To enhance unit deployment skills, proficiency, and readiness
  • To share innovative deployment initiatives
  • To capture deployment training trends

How To Apply

Installation

The servicing installation for any unit competing will be assessed for the installation category.

Categories

Deploying Units

Army Active Component / Army Reserve Component / Army National Guard

Selecton of participating units will be conducted by the appropriate Army Commands (ACOMs), Army Service Component Commands (ASCCs), the Army National Guard (ARNG), and the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR); self-nomination are no longer being accepted. A unit's competitiveness in the DEA Program is enabled by its adherence to the Command Deployment Discipline Program. All competing units will be evaluated on their execution of a deployment operations during the fiscal year, which runs from October through September.

FAQs

The primary objectives are:

  • To recognize and award units, and installations for deployment excellence.
  • To capture and share innovative deployment initiatives, which have improved the deployment process.
  • To track Army deployment training trends for doctrinal and training updates.

The DEA program is co-sponsored by the Army G-3 and G-4. The Chief of Transportation (COT) is the executive agent for the program. The Director, Deployment Process Modernization Office (DPMO) serves as the (COT's) lead agent.

So the soldiers and/or civilians of your unit/installation can be recognized by the chain of command for their ongoing efforts to establish and/or sustain excellence in support of unit deployments and its mission accomplishment .

The DEA competition year begins on 1 October and ends 30 September of the following calendar year.

An all expense paid round-trip to the ceremony to accept the award for one unit member from each winning unit (includes per diem, lodging, transportation costs to and from the airport/hotel)

  • Recognition by the Chief of Staff Army or his designated representative
  • Unit receives a Chief of Staff Army Combined Logistics Excellence Award distinguished plaque

The Chief of Staff Army Deployment Excellence Award program is open to all Army Active, National Guard, and Reserve units and installations with a deployment or deployment support mission executed within the competition period (1 Oct - 30 Sep)

Deployments can occur at home station, mobilization station, or power projection platform. Eligible deployments can occur prior to or post Title 10 conversion. Examples of activities which can involve eligible deployments:

  • Annual training exercises (NTC, JRTC, COBRA GOLD, etc)
  • Homeland Defense missions
  • Humanitarian missions (Haiti Earthquake Relief, EBOLA support)
  • Peacekeeping missions
  • Overseas Contingency Operations
  • Deployment Readiness Exercises (EDREs/SEDREs) – (Some types)

The Deploying Unit category applies to any unit (derivative UIC) with a deployment mission.

The deploying unit category has the following sub-categories for competition:

  • Large Deploying Unit – Battalion and above
  • Small Deploying Unit – Company and below

The unit must demonstrate the ability to deploy by executing a deployment (see example above) within the competition year (1 Oct - 30 Sep).

The deployment begins at the unit’s origin and ends at the unit’s final destination (tactical assembly area, corps assembly area, annual training site or other location designated by the unit’s mission).

The ultimate determination of whether a unit movement constitutes a deployment within the intent of the DEA program is made on a case-by-case basis by the unit’s MACOM.

A deploying task force up to division size may compete, but must be submitted as under one division UIC.

Deploying units are evaluated on their ability to plan and execute a deployment mission.

Deploying units competing for the award are limited to a single deployment event or activity (see examples above) during the award competition year. This event or activity has to be identified by the unit as the basis for the award in the unit’s nomination profile packet.

The Supporting Unit award categroy is as follows:

  • Supporting Unit - Team and above

This sub-category applies to any unit or activity that has demonstrated the ability to support a deployment within the competition year (1 Oct - 30 Sep). Support units are evaluated on their ability to plan and execute deployment support activities, events, or contingency support mission during the competition year. Support units may identify multiple events or activities supported within the competition year as the basis for the award in the unit’s nomination profile packet.

The Installation Award category consists of the following sub-categories:

  • Installation - CONUS
  • Installation - OCONUS

These sub-categories apply only to any fixed military installation, fort, barracks, garrison, or camp, which has demonstrated the ability to plan and execute deployment support activities, within the competition year (1 Oct - 30 Sep). Installations may identify multiple events or activities supported within the competition year as the basis for the award in the installation's self-nomination profile packet.

Points of Contact for Deployment Excellence Award Command

DEA Program Manager

Comm: (520) 669-1824