2008 William J. Perry Award presented to the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems Team (GMLRS) of Lockheed Martin and the U.S.Army on January 23, 2008

A high-point of Winter Roundtable on January 23, 2008 was the presentation of the PSA’s 12th annual William J. Perry Award to the government/industry team that has delivered the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (Guided MLRS) and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System( HIMARS) to the precision weapons inventories of the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and Allied ground forces.

The Perry Award recognizes public or private sector leadership or achievement that results in significant contributions to the development, introduction, or support of precision strike systems. The GMLRS/HIMARS team was recognized for “outstanding contributions by providing revolutionary surface-to-surface precision engagement capability to joint and coalition combat commanders.” 

The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Team exceeded expectations through development and fielding of the expeditionary HIMARS utilizing the innovative surface-to-surface precision engagement capability of the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket. 

Due to the superb commitment of the U.S. Army/Lockheed Martin Team, this game-changing precision capability is now in the arsenal of coalition commanders in the field. 

With over five hundred rockets employed in support of coalition forces and an overall reliability rate exceeding 98 percent, this system has made a significant contribution to operational success and has become a weapon system of choice for commanders.

“The Guided Multiple Launch Rocket and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Team members have exemplified the ideals of the Precision Strike Association,” the William J. Perry Citation states.

In attendance at Winter Roundtable 2008 was former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry (for whom the award is named) who was clearly elated with this year’s winner. “I am always pleased when the award is given to a joint industry/military team because it takes cooperation and collaboration to have a successful program. Lockheed Martin certainly has had a splendid record through the years. I’m not surprised that Lockheed Martin is on the winning team this year,” stated the precision strike pioneer. 

Dr. Perry is not surprised that a previously unguided weapon is this year’s winner. “The trend in the last few decades has been towards precision for very good reasons. Sometimes you develop precision weapons from scratch. Sometimes we adapt. This was a very smart move to adapt MLRS to a precision weapon,” he concludes. 

In accepting the award for the government team, Colonel David Rice, USA, the U.S. Army’s program manager for precision fires, rockets and missiles systems, was taken aback. “This is surreal. This is really a big deal, a big day for us in precision fires. We are honored and humbled to be the first Army recipient of this prestigious award. Lockheed Martin knows how to make a product. They know doggone well what they are doing,” he added. 

Thad Moore, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for domestic business development, considers it “a great honor” to accept the award on behalf of Lockheed Martin. Stated Moore: “I love the Army, I love supporting the customer, knowing what Guided MLRS is used for. I’d rather do this than sell refrigerators.” 

Named after the former U.S. defense chief and precision strike weapons advocate, others to have received the prestigious Perry Award include: Dr. Perry, the first recipient (1997); former Vice President Dan Quayle (1998); RADM Walter M. Locke, USN (Ret.) (1999); The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (2000); the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Joint Program Office (2001); Rep. James V. Hansen (R-UT) (2002); Terry Little, a well-respected acquisition reform pioneer (2003); the USAF/USN/Boeing JDAM Program Team (2004); U.S. warriors of Operation Euduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2005); the government-industry Tactical Tomahawk Team (2006); and, the government-industy Small Diameter Bomb Team (2007). By: Ramon Lopez