From left: Range maintenance supervisor Gerrit Pasco, Anthony “Tex” Texeira, Lt. Col. Eric Shwedo, Command Sergeant Major Alan Higgs. (Photo courtesy of PTA)

MEDIA RELEASE

Anthony Texeira, a maintenance specialist at the Pohakuloa Training Area, has received the Quarterly Employee Award for his exceptional work.

“It’s an honor to select Tony for this award,” said Lt. Col. Eric Shwedo, PTA commander. “He always goes the extra mile in performing critical tasks to maintain our targets, ranges and equipment. His efforts have given units more training capacity, which in the end, will save lives in combat.”

Texeira’s award described his conscientiousness and diligence in carrying out multiple tasks in the fields of carpentry, electronics, and heavy equipment. He’s assigned to the Range Maintenance Division, operated by the U.S. Army’s Mission Support Element – Hawaii.

A native of Kona, he originally was hired as a journeyman carpenter in 2008. Texeira has been instrumental in the redesign and fabrication of the trench system and grenade bunkers on PTA’s Range 10. This system has saved the Army thousands of dollars.

“He demonstrated his expertise by designing and building a range system that combines both safe and realistic training,” said Gerrit Pasco, Range Maintenance Supervisor and Texeira’s boss. “Tony maximized the resources he had at hand so his design required minimal fabrication – that’s important during the short time restraints we operate under to keep our ranges open.”

“His design has proven very popular to the Army and Marine Corps units training here.” Pasco said.

During his years at Range Maintenance Division, Texeira has taken personal time completing online classes to meet the qualifications for the Maintenance Mechanic position.

The classes have paid off.

“He’s one of our few employees who can respond to last minute requests and write a program with no assistance,” Pasco said.

His award noted Texeira’s performance has positively and professionally elevated the work environment at PTA’s Range Maintenance Division, adding his support to range facilities has allowed all units to fully exercise their training objectives, and has greatly contributed to maintaining their combat readiness.