NDTA president's special achievement award. (NDTA 2002 Forum Greensboro, NC).

Mr. Joseph A. Torsani, Jr.

Chairman, Council of Regional Presidents, and President, Atlantic Region NDTA

Dr. Joseph G. Mattingly, Jr.

Assistant Dean, Emeritus, University of Maryland, and Past Editor, DTJ

NDTA president's award.

LtCol Dale M. Colaianni

LtCol Dale Colaianni distinguished himself in the performance of outstanding service to the United States of America while serving as the Director of Logistics for the 3rd Air Expeditionary Task Force, United States Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base Germany, where he established a logistics support base for all humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and provided superb Operation Enduring Freedom support, orchestrating over 230 air-land and airdrop sorties and delivering over 10 million pounds of combat and humanitarian aid. Through his astute leadership, he built a US Air Force, US Army and German Army coalition team for what Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld called "The largest humanitarian assistance program in history, [which] would not have been possible without swift and effective military efforts of coalition forces."

The team made military airlift history with the first-ever C-17 four-ship, high-altitude airdrop of humanitarian supplies for twenty six million Afghan people. In addition, his efforts directly contributed to the decisive victory in the strategic baffle for Mazar-e Shariff. His team was the lynchpin in meeting the compressed response requirements to rig and airlift munitions for airdrop to forces actively engaged in combat operations. The industry, joint, and coalition relationships he fostered through his membership in the National Defense Transportation Association facilitated his ability to build the multi-disciplinary team he needed to respond to the challenges of the war. The distinctive accomplishments of Lt Col Colaianni exemplify the highest ideals of the National Defense Transportation Association, as he made significant contributions to our ability to achieve national objectives in the War Against Terrorism.