The U.S. Army Acquisition Corps recognized Maj. Brian Jones during a recent awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., for his efforts to accelerate the fielding of equipment, technology and systems to soldiers engaged in combat operations.

Jones, a test officer for the Battle Command and Communication Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command, was part of a team from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command, the Rapid Equipping Force and the Army Test and Evaluation Command.

The team, known as the acquisition cell, received the Equipping and Sustaining Our Soldier's System Award, said Walt Bruning, directorate deputy division chief.

"This innovative group of officers worked together to focus on the warfighter, coordinating closely with combat units from both the Army and the Marine Corps to understand their needs," Bruning said. "They worked across the acquisition, logistics and technology fields to develop workable solutions to specific challenges faced by U.S. forces in Afghanistan."

Perhaps the best demonstration of the team's work was the methodology it employed for the rapid fielding of a supplemental fire-extinguishing system for Stryker vehicles, Bruning said.

"Maj. Jones provided existing data on the various options to ensure safety and performance requirements were understood during the decision-making process," Bruning said. "Brian only had a few short weeks to help make this happen."

Using this model, Bruning said, the cell solved many problems for field commanders and helped save soldiers' lives by accelerating the fielding of everything from blast-mitigating flooring systems to hand-held mine-detection systems.

"I was fortunate to be on a team with such outstanding professionals from throughout the acquisition, research and development, and test and evaluation communities," Jones said. "What drove us throughout the process was that our goal was to get soldiers the materiel they needed to fight and win in Afghanistan."

Other team members were Lt. Col. Richard Haggerty, Maj. Rodney Briggman, Maj. Jared Novak and Lt. Col. Dean Hoffman.

"I'm so very proud of Maj. Jones and his team members; they represent the very best of the Acquisition Corps," said Brig. Gen. Don MacWillie, who leads the command. "They never forgot that they serve soldiers."