Arnold attorney earns environmental award

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Beverly Isik
  • AEDC/PA
An attorney at Arnold Engineering Development Center received the Air Force Materiel Command Gen. Edwin W. Rawlings Environmental Excellence Award for 2007 in the management category.

Patricia Bieder, a former Air Force captain who has been an attorney at AEDC since 1995, received the Air Force Association award for her work on a myriad of environmental matters.

The award is presented annually to recognize Department of Defense employees and military members for their outstanding contributions to pollution prevention, recycling, environmental compliance and the protection of natural and cultural resources, according to Lt. Gen. Wetekam, Air Force Logistics, Installations and Mission Support.

One eligibility stipulation to the award is that winners' assigned duties must consist of less than 50 percent environmental involvement. For example, people who work in bio environmental or environmental offices are not eligible.

Ms. Bieder works hand-in-hand with environmental scientists from AEDC and the Aerospace Testing Alliance and was key to two of the base's major five-year permit applications - a Title V Permit for Air Quality and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit for Wastewater.

The 16-year civil service employee was a "stellar legal assistant during AEDC's successful negotiation to assume control, reactivate and begin operations of NASA's moth balled National Full-Scale Aerodynamic Complex (NFAC) in California," according to Col. Arthur Huber, the center's commander.

Her extensive list of environmental contributions also included reviewing material on the Installation Restoration Program to establish compliance and providing environmental law advice as the Air Force evaluated Arnold for the Common Battlefield Airmen Training mission (CBAT).

Arnold is one of three Air Force bases being considered as the home for the proposed CBAT. CBAT would train up to 14,000 Airmen annually during a 25-day course designed to enhance their combat survival skills prior to deploying overseas locations such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

The South Dakota native was also an integral player in Arnold's American Indian government-to-government base conference, supporting negotiations and providing legal advice on 11 Memoranda of Agreement with American Indian Tribes, according to the commander. The MOAs detail roles and responsibilities, streamline the old process and holistically address cultural resources management.

"We are very proud of our AFMC environmental excellence award winners and the tremendous support they provide to the Air Force mission," said Col. Janice Long, AFMC deputy director of installations and mission support."