El Toro : Marine Air Station Gets Award for Excellence

The El Toro Marine Air Station has received the Commander-in-Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence, an honor given annually by the Department of Defense to one base in each branch of the Armed Services.

In a press release announcing the award, Secretary of Defense Caspar R. Weinberger said El Toro and the other winning bases had “excelled in their continuing effort to provide the best possible places to work and live, as well as excellent base services.” Gen. Paul X. Kelley, Marine Corps commandant, called El Toro “a center of professionalism, pride and productivity.”

A major factor singling out El Toro as the sole Marine installation to receive the award was the base’s Family Services Center, which recently began offering classes to combat domestic violence and to teach Marines and their spouses about parenting, nutrition, financial management and marriage enrichment, Marine Corps spokesperson Jerry Hendrix said.

Singled out for praise were two cost-saving measures--a streamlined maintenance system and a program for reclaiming jet fuel--as well as expansion of the Marine Corps Exchange, renovation of base housing units and the construction of a McDonald’s restaurant on base, the second to be built on a U.S. military base.