Wednesday, March 28, 2001

By Rick Emert, Bamberg bureau

Maj. Joseph Cansler

HOHENFELS, Germany — The director of public works at the 282nd Base Support Battalion in Hohenfels was named best in the Army on March 13.

Although members of his staff and community are touting him as the "DPW of the universe," Maj. Joseph Cansler will tell you himself that that’s not entirely true.

"The staff here won it for me," Cansler said.

In fact, early in his career Cansler had no intentions of becoming a DPW.

"As a lieutenant in the 94th [Engineer Battalion], I said I would never work in a DPW," Cansler said. "A lot of it was just the attitude of the employees; it seemed they were only there to do a job, not take care of the customers."

Now, a coveted plaque for the Army’s top DPW honor — Executive of the Year — hangs on his wall during his first stint as a DPW.

"It was kind of awkward coming in here with the staff knowing I haven’t been a DPW before," Cansler said. "Most of them had 10 or more years experience. But they were very supportive."

Since Cansler took over the position in May 1999, his staff has built a realistic, Kosovo-like base camp to house 1,400 soldiers during Mission Rehearsal Exercises in the Combat Maneuver Training Center, only to tear it down a couple of weeks later and repeat the process for the next MRE.

The staff also has arranged for and overseen the construction of 154 government or built-to-lease housing units.

A customer-service survey conducted last year showed the DPW earned an average score of 9.82 out of 10 for customer satisfaction.

As with the award, Cansler, a 17-year Army engineer, credits these success stories to his staff. He said his success has been the result of good mentoring from his staff and division chiefs, like Albert Boehm, chief of the Environmental Management Office.

"This is an individual award, but I think a program can only be a success if the people who work for the program are contributing to it," Boehm said.

Still, Boehm said Cansler is making the grade as DPW.

"I’ve worked here 12 years — I would rate him as one of the top two in that time," Boehm said. "It’s a very stressful job, but he has a very open atmosphere. He’s a strong leader; he gives the division chiefs a lot of freedom to make our own decisions."

"I’m the guy who keeps the mission focused," Cansler said, "but these people have been here for years; they know what they’re doing."

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