GFEBS staff is prepared to overcome a variety of obstacles while deploying GFEBS. But no one could predict a natural disaster hitting our instructors during Instructor-Led Training (ILT) delivery in Japan. Five GFEBS instructors were delivering ILTs to Okinawa, Yokota Air Force Base, and Camp Zama when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Sendai struck the Tōhoku region of Japan on Friday, 11 March 2011. These natural disasters caused serious damage at Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Since then, Japan has experienced ongoing aftershocks, disruption to transportation and continued damage to its nuclear power plants, along with rolling power outages, and shortages of food, water, and gas.
Throughout this devastation and the subsequent health and safety concerns, the instructors, Ed Kuligowski, Oshara Helton, Les Burleson, James Madden, and Carmen Lugo, demonstrated great spirit and dedication to the GFEBS deployment mission. They remained committed to their goal of providing pre-deployment training support to the commands in Japan, and completed ILT delivery for these sites before returning home to America. In honor of their efforts, GFEBS Project Leadership hosted a recognition ceremony on Tuesday, 5 April 2011. COL Patrick Burden, GFEBS Project Manager, highlighted the instructors’ hard work and dedication while being the “ambassadors of GFEBS…the face of GFEBS, and interacting with end-users on a day-to-day basis.” Accenture’s Project Manager Stephanie Kennedy commended the instructors’ on their ability to persevere through the unexpected earthquake and represent the project well. The ceremony was followed by a light reception, and these five instructors will receive certificates for their efforts. L to R Oshara Helton, Ed Kuligowski, Les Burleson, Carmen Lugo, James Madden 
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