Story by Capt. Matthew Boyle, Public Affairs Office, North Carolina National Guard
In the 2015 Army Communities of Excellence competition the North Carolina National Guard placed third in the silver category. This year, the NCNG has been selected to compete in the gold category with three other states. The efforts of the staff at the Joint Force Headquarters have paid off and this week they will host examiners from the Army Communities of Excellence here.
The Army Communities of Excellence is a Chief of Staff of the Army program that recognizes performance excellence in organizational management and promotes efficient business processes. ACOE uses criteria established for the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award as developed by the National Institutes of Science and Technology (NIST) as a framework for performance assessment.
Maj. Dale Cowan, a Strategic Planner and Policy Officer for the North Carolina National Guard has been the key coordinator of this effort. “I am proud of all the work that our organization has put into this submission and it is rewarding just to be selected for this category” said Cowan.
The goal of the ACOE process improvement is to become more customer-focused, process-oriented, and data-driven which will help National Guard states do more with limited resources, decrease expenses, and increase its ability to accomplish its mission.
“Process improvement has become a part of our culture,” said Cowan.
The annual ACOE competition, ACOE Awards, which have been presented since 1989, are given to the Army installations scoring highest in the Army Communities of Excellence competition.
Photo: Maj. Dale Cowan, a Strategic Planner and Policy Officer for the North Carolina National Guard meets with examiners from the Army Communities of Excellence Program at the North Carolina National Guard, Joint Force Headquarters, Raleigh, North Carolina on November 05, 2015. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Lisa Vines/Released)