he General Creighton W. Abrams Medal for exceptional service to the United States Army is awarded to Gen. William F. "Buck" Kernan, USA, Ret.Upon completion of Officer Candidate School in 1968, Kernan was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry. The following year he was assigned to Vietnam with the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, where he held multiple positions including rifle platoon leader, battalion reconnaissance platoon leader and assistant S-3.After returning from Vietnam he held leadership roles of increasing authority to include commanding two airborne companies, two Ranger companies, an airborne infantry battalion, a Ranger battalion and the 75th Ranger Regiment that he led during its combat parachute assault into Panama during Operation Just Cause. Kernan also served two years as an exchange officer, commanding a rifle company in a British parachute regiment.Following his promotion to brigadier general in 1992, Kernan acted as the assistant division commander (maneuver) for the 7th Infantry Division, and then as the director of plans, policy and strategic assessments, J-5, U.S. Special Operations Command. As a major general, Kernan commanded the 101st Airborne Division, and as a lieutenant general the XVIII Airborne Corps. His final command before his retirement in 2002 was commander, United States Joint Forces Command/Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.For his service, Kernan received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with V device, the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters. Kernan has also received the Doughboy Award for outstanding contributions to the United States Army Infantry – the highest honor awarded by the Chief of Infantry to an Infantryman.During the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure, Kernan helped protect North Carolina’s military economy and its role as host to a significant military presence. He was instrumental in developing the North Carolina defense and security business cluster, serving as the North Carolina Military Foundation’s first chairman. In this position, he brought together stakeholders from the military, higher education and the defense industry to bolster the state’s defense sector.Kernan has dedicated time and effort to help soldiers and their families. He is a member of the advisory board of the Patriot Foundation, that provides scholarships and child care services for the families of soldiers from Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell who were killed or wounded while serving.Kernan is also an ambassador for the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation that provides life-changing educational and career opportunities for soldiers who have suffered severe, permanent injuries during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.Furthermore, as an advisory board member for the National Infantry Museum, Kernan has ensured that soldiers past, present and future are honored and recognized for their selfless service to the nation.Biddle MedalThe Major General Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Medal is awarded to Felicia A. Campbell for her outstanding contributions to the Association of the United States Army.For more than 25 years, Campbell has been an active member of AUSA’s Greater Los Angeles Chapter. Her dedication to soldiers and families has a profound impact on her chapter and the Association. Currently serving as the chapter’s vice president of communication, and previously serving as vice president of programs and as a member of the chapter’s board, Campbell’s leadership has contributed greatly to the development and strength of the chapter.Campbell has conceived, implemented and managed numerous programs and events that support soldiers and their families, strengthen professional development and improve ties between the Army and local industry. After learning of local Army families in need, Campbell organized the chapter’s Adopt a Family Program, which, for six years, has provided grocery cards and gifts to more than 400 Army families during the holidays. She also established the chapter’s Give a Soldier a Night Out Program, providing Army Ball tickets to enlisted soldiers and their guests, as well as supporting Soldier Appreciation Days at the Joint Forces Training Center, Los Alamitos.Campbell ran the chapter’s Industrial Associates Program for more than a decade. This program brings local industry and Army leaders together for dinner speaker events throughout the year, strengthening relationships and helping fund the chapter’s scholarship program.She also developed and ran the chapter’s Space, C4 and Cyber Symposium, that for years brought industry and Army leaders together to discuss relevant science, technology, engineering and math topics.She supported the chapter’s annual City Tavern Dinner during the AUSA Annual Meeting, served as a member of the Army Ball Committee for more than 25 years, acted as cochairman of the 2015 7th Region Meeting and recently overhauled the chapter’s website and marketing program.In recognition of her volunteer service, Campbell has received an AUSA Certificate of Appreciation, an AUSA Golden Eagle Distinguished Service Award, the Greater Los Angeles Chapter AUSA Founder’s Medal and the 7th Region AUSA Soaring Eagle Award.She has also received certificates of appreciation from the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan and Objective Force Task Force, as well as the Department of the Army’s Outstanding Civilian Service Medal.Cribbins MedalThe Joseph P. Cribbins Medal is awarded to Annette Lozen for her exemplary service to the U.S. Army as a civilian employee, and her significant contributions to its soldiers and their families.Lozen began her Army civilian career in 2009 at TACOM Life Cycle Management Command and is currently the lead for TACOM’s industrial base Public-Private Partnership Program. Her accomplishments include the creation, maintenance, and execution of the TACOM LCMC Organic Industrial Base Strategy, as well as serving as a representative for public-private partnership policy development programs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.As a subject matter expert on legislative proposals, Lozen has contributed greatly to the streamlining of TACOM LCMC’s process for handling these proposals.In addition, Lozen has been active in the community through her support of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. With leadership roles and direct involvement, she has supported the Science Olympiad, a national organization which holds competitions for more than 7,300 teams across the country.Acting as a head coach since 2008, Lozen has trained, managed and coached middle and high school teams to compete in 23 STEM events. As part of her participation in the Science Olympiad, she also created an environmental science national-level event called "Generation Green" that poses environmental dilemmas to participants who then develop solutions.Lozen’s contributions to her community also include roles as Secretary of the Secinarese Club of America and vice president of the Michigan K.I.D.S. board.Dixon AwardThe John W. Dixon Award for outstanding contributions to national defense by a member of the industrial community is awarded to Wes Bush, Chief Executive Officer and President of Northrop Grumman.Under Bush’s leadership, Northrop Grumman has been a champion of encouraging Americans to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, a sector of education critical to America retaining its technological edge in national defense.In 2015 Northrup Grumman invested $750,000 in Virginia Tech’s scholarship and faculty fellowship programs in support of the University’s senior faculty fellowship in advanced intelligence systems and the scholarship program in military leadership for the students of the Corps of Cadets and College of Engineering.The University of Maryland also benefited from a $1 million donation to its scholarship programs supporting cybersecurity.Directed by Bush, Northrop Grumman has also given Space Camp Scholarships to promote STEM education and has run its High School Involvement Partnership mentoring program and engineering competition for over ten years.Northrup Grumman, led by Bush, has consistently been an avid supporter of service members and their families. One of their initiatives, the Injured Military Pursuing Assisted Career Transition, or Operation IMPACT, provides career transition support to military service members who have been severely injured in the global war on terror. In addition to providing aid to the injured service member, the program offers career support to an immediate family member who will act as the primary wage earner.Since Northrop Grumman in unable to help all injured service members alone, they established the Network of Champions to expand Operation IMPACT to over 100 partner companies who assist with their mission.The company has also hosted many employment symposiums for wounded warriors at Fort Hood and Joint Base San Antonio in Texas and Fort Belvoir and Quantico in Virginia, as well as donating $100,000 dollars to the AUSA Fort Hood Chapter tragedy assistance fund following the base shooting in 2009.McLain MedalThe Lieutenant General Raymond S. McLain Medal is awarded to Brig. Gen. James P. Combs for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of the Association of the United States Army’s goal of a seamless and component-oriented Army.Combs joined the active Army as an enlisted engineer in 1967. Following three years of service as a staff sergeant and one tour in Vietnam, Combs attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the California Army National Guard in 1971.Throughout his career, Combs served with distinction in a variety of command positions including company, battalion, brigade, and division level commands.While serving, Combs’ primary focus was to organize, resource, train, and mobilize joint and combined forces for state and federal missions.Combs’ commitment to selfless service did not stop when he retired from the Army. He has dedicated his time and energy to helping those in need. Among his many volunteer initiatives, Combs spearheaded an effort to turn an abandoned gasoline station at the Joint Forces Training Base into a Veterans’ Service Center for families, veterans and soldiers, where they can receive assistance and guidance with military benefits.He also volunteered to support Solano County’s Veterans’ Justice Outreach Program, helping inmates who are veterans to access VA and community veteran resources.Combs has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with five Oak Leaf Clusters and the Army Commendation Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.Combs currently serves as the president of AUSA’s Greater Los Angeles Chapter, where he focuses on the well-being of soldiers, veterans and their families in the Southern California area. He continues to be an active voice in promoting AUSA and the United States Army beyond his local community.National Service AwardThe National Service Award is awarded to The Gary Sinise Foundation for exemplary service and enduring support to the American soldier and the United States Army community.The Gary Sinise Foundation’s mission is to serve our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders and all their families through programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, strengthen and build communities. To that end, the foundation has made profound efforts across a broad spectrum of activities to support America’s soldiers and their families.The Gary Sinise Foundation began raising funds in 2011 to build custom smart homes for America’s severely wounded heroes in response to the increasing need for specialized accommodation for veterans. This initiative has since expanded into the Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment (RISE) program which provides vehicles to disabled veterans, and will have completed or broken ground on 36 homes by the end of this year.The foundation also runs a number of entertainment and support events for families of the fallen, wounded warrior, and veterans. Gary Sinise and his Lieutenant Dan Band have performed more than 300 concerts as fundraising benefits or in support of the USO.Many of these concerts occur during the foundation’s Invincible Spirits Festivals taking place at military medical centers where wounded warriors are undergoing rehabilitation. The events celebrate the courage and perseverance of recovering service members, their families and the caregivers who help them.The foundation’s events also include its Arts and Entertainment program, that treats veterans to a special free evening at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago and the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles; the Relief & Resiliency Program, taking those suffering from trauma, injury or loss to exciting special events aimed at fostering a strong community and creating friendships; and Soaring Valor, which sends World War II veterans and their guardians to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.Rudder MedalThe Major General James Earl Rudder Medal is awarded to Maj. Gen. James M. Collins, USA, Ret., for his outstanding contributions to the advancement of the Association of the United States Army’s goal of a seamless and component-oriented Army.Collins began his military career in 1971, after receiving his commission through the ROTC program at the University of Arkansas. Over his 35-year career, he commanded signal corps, military police, military intelligence, and quartermaster units.Collins was on active duty with assignments in Europe and with the 9th Infantry Division prior to transferring to the Army Reserve in 1980. At the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he was the commanding general of the 70th Regional Support Command in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.At the request of the chief of the Army Reserve, he returned to the active Army and served as deputy commanding general and chief of staff for I Corps, overseeing training and bilateral/combined exercises in Korea, Japan and Thailand.Upon his retirement from the Army he received special recognition from the chief of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force for his contributions to the bilateral defense relationship between the United States and Japan.His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster.Collins is an AUSA life member and has been active in the Association since 1971, providing volunteer support to chapters in Washington and California. In 2010 he set up the Steilacoom Subchapter of the Captain Meriwether Lewis Chapter that covers southwest Washington. He was the first president of the subchapter.During his tenure, he initiated coordination between local and regional law enforcement organizations to provide support to the units and soldiers of the 42d Military Police Brigade at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, Wash.Collins remains involved with Army and Army Reserve issues in the community. His contributions include serving as the civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army for Washington since 2010, helping form and expand the Hire America’s Heroes military veteran hiring organization with support from his civilian employer, Weyerhaeuser Company.