Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Visits EMCBC
September 24, 2008

The Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Jim Rispoli, visited the EMCBC on September 24. Addressing EMCBC employees, he provided praise and thanks to the accomplishments of EMCBC employees and the support they continue to provide throughout EM. The Assistant Secretary lauded the efforts of several of the EMCBC Offices, in particular Office of Contracting, Human Resources and the newly formed EM Cost Estimating and Analysis Center.

In addition to his encouraging words, Mr. Rispoli presented several EMCBC staff members with the new EM coin, a special coin struck with the DOE logo on one side and "EM" and "Assistant Secretary, Environmental Management" on the other. Coins representing military units have become very popular among the military services. A Navy veteran, the Assistant Secretary has brought the tradition to EM, presenting coins to recognize individuals who have "gone above and beyond their normal duties."

According to the American Forces Press Service, stories of the coin custom origination vary widely. One of the most accepted traces it to World War I, when a wealthy lieutenant had bronze unit medallions struck for his squadron. As the story goes, a squadron pilot who was shot down and captured behind German lines ended up with nothing but that medallion to identify himself after his escape. Ultimately, the identifying coin ended up saving him from being executed by the French as a spy.

The squadron's tradition of coin carrying continued, with "challenges" regularly made to ensure all members had theirs handy. A unit member who couldn't quickly produce the coin when challenged had to buy the challenger a drink. But if the coin could be slapped down, the challenger had to buy.

While Mr. Rispoli said he has no plans to emulate the squadron's challenge tradition, he would like to see coin holders show them to him whenever they meet in the future. It is the Assistant Secretary's intent that the EM coin be a symbol of pride and accomplishment.

EMCBC staff members presented the EM coin from Assistant Secretary Rispoli were: (from left) Helene Taylor, Kim Johnson, Jack Craig, Loretta Parsons, Tim Marcus, Margaret Marks and Anne Wickham.