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Last updated on Wednesday, August 30, 2017
(NOBLESVILLE) - In honor of Kokomo native Bradley Atwell’s ultimate sacrifice, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Indiana Chapter, named their annual scholarship after him.
On the 5th anniversary of his passing, September 14, 2017, the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation will host their 22nd Annual MCSF Golf Tournament at the Pebble Brook Golf Club in Noblesville.
Each year the foundation names the scholarship after an Indiana Marine that paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
The MCSF Indiana chapter relies on donations to maintain this scholarship and all net proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Sergeant Bradley W. Atwell USMC Memorial Scholarship in his honor with the goal of netting $100,000.
For more information about the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation Indiana Chapter, please visit
the links below: mcsf.org and facebook.com/mcsfindy/
Sergeant Bradley W. Atwell is enthusiastically recommended for the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for Meritorious service, while serving as an Aircraft Electrical and Flight Control Systems Technician, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 (Forward), 3d Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) Afghanistan, from April 2012 to September 2012 in support of operation enduring freedom.
During the onslaught of Insurgents on September 14, 2012 Sergeant Atwell, upon observing the effects of indirect fire and hearing what was later determined to be enemy small arms fires, immediately directed his Marines to retrieve their rifles and accompany him. Without hesitation, Sergeant Atwell acquired his rifle; he then rushed out of the secure confines of his work space and hurriedly ran to the flight line and toward the visible aircraft and structural fires. His maneuver route and pace was hampered by ongoing enemy small arms direct fire as evident through ricocheting tracer rounds passing between him and the other maneuvering Marines.
While continuing to press forward along the edge of the aircraft parking area, Sergeant Atwell became separated from the others when a rocket propelled grenade exploded approximately three meters from his position knocking him down with mortal injuries. Sergeant Atwell crawled to cover and returned fire in the direction of the enemy until succumbing to his wounds caused by the rocket propelled grenade.
Prior to his selfless sacrifice, bold actions and courage while under fire, Sergeant Atwells meritorious actions and accomplishments in the performing his regular duties were as follows:
Sergeant Atwells leadership ability and technical expertise were plainly evident upon his arrival to the Avionics Department. He was therefore immediately assigned supervisory duties of work center 620s night crew, filling a leadership gap normally assigned to a Staff Sergeant. In this capacity he was directly responsible for the training, production, and maintenance output executed by six subordinate maintainers of varying experience and ability levels. His Marines ultimately accomplished the correct and expeditious repair of 193 Weapons Replaceable Assemblies. This quantity of production is comparable to two work shifts operating around the clock in garrison. Additionally, Sergeant Atwell personally inspected 132 end-items for effective repair at a cost savings of nearly $160,000. His combined maintenance and supervisory efforts yielded a sustained repair rate of 87% which is at pace with garrison units possessing more manpower and resources.
Sergeant Atwell applied his Lean Six Sigma training and effectively used the Maintenance and Supply Buffer Management Tools to identify production priorities and ensure the work centers maintenance effort was focused on flight line readiness. He liaised with Production Control to guide priorities in regards to the flying squadrons maintenance posture. His diligence resulted in a decrease in the work centers daily Due In for Maintenance to five maintenance actions. This is a third of the 16.4 that it was prior to him managing the maintenance effort. Sergeant Atwell assessed his work centers maintenance capabilities and test benches, discovering
inefficient productivity in the Aircraft Battery Locker due to five dilapidated charging cables. He attained repair parts and personally refurbished each cable assembly. This action not only expedited returning the cable assemblies back to service but also saved $4,468.00 and ultimately restored 100 percent battery servicing capability.
Sergeant Atwell coordinated the redistribution of 2,038 pounds of pool stock aircraft batteries belonging to platforms no longer supported on Kandahar or Bastion flight line. This not only served to reduce the units operational footprint, it also expedited the replenishment of FA-18 aircraft batteries to Marine Aircraft Group 12, which at the time had two FA-18 aircraft Non Mission Capable for lack of
batteries.
Upon assuming the duties as the Assistant Avionics Hazardous Material (HazMat) Control and Management Program Manager, he conducted an initial inspection in accordance with COMNAVAIRFORINST 4790.2B. His inspection identified many discrepancies which revealed the program to be not in compliance with governing directives. He immediately identified that many of the maintained materials were expired. He requisitioned and replaced all the expired materials. This was instrumental in ensuring the Avionics Department was still able to perform maintenance without delay of reordering Hazardous Materials. Sergeant Atwell was solely responsible for communicating with every Work Center Supervisor in the Avionics Department to confirm that the Avionics HazMat locker carried those materials that their work centers needed. He also recognized the need for the HazMat locker to be streamlined. He accomplished this by properly redistributing items that were not needed and reorganizing the HazMat lockers shelving system. His ingenuity resulted in a 40% reduction of the Avionics Departments HazMat environmental and operational footprint while preserving 100% HazMat mission readiness. Additionally, his initial inspection subsequently yielded Marines lacking the Right-to- Know indoctrination training. He ensured that 100% of the Marines deployed with 12.1 and 12.2 completed the mandatory training. Furthermore, he ensured that the Marines assigned to the Avionics Department completed the Material Safety Datasheet On-the- job Training as directed by the COMNAVAIRFORINST
4790.2B.
Sergeant Atwells noteworthy accomplishments and tireless efforts highlighted his extreme professionalism and dedication to the units support of the International Security Assistance Force mission. By improving the level of support provided by the Avionics Department while contributing significantly to squadron consolidation and drawdown plans, he enhanced current readiness while laying the groundwork for the continued success of the next unit. For his personal sacrifice and his exceptional efforts, he is unequivocally deserving of the recognition of a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
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