MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- The Combat Center was named the best installation in the Corps and given the Commander in Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence, according to a recent Department of Defense press release announcing the winners from each service.

The installation also took top honors in 2007 and was named a runner-up in 2008.

The installation shined above the rest because it is “the U.S. Marine Corps’ premier live fire and maneuver training center for all Marine Expeditionary Forces, Marine Force Reserve and other U.S. and Foreign Forces. The Combat Center’s training program is comprehensive, realistic and proven to be successful on the battlefield. In 2009, the Combat Center provided unsurpassed training to over 45,000 Marines and sailors deployed to overseas contingency operations such as Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Despite funding and workforce cutbacks, the Combat Center improved the quality of life for family members living on the base and in the local community through the Marine Corps Community Services. The Combat Center received several prestigious awards, including the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ award for having the best deployment model in the Marine Corps, and the Secretary of the Navy’s award for environmental accomplishments in pollution prevention,” as stated in the award citation.

The CINC award was started by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. His idea was to recognize installations and service members who “have done the best job with their resources to support the mission and to seek-out the most imaginative solutions to the many complex problems they face,” according to the press release.

All services’ winners are scheduled to be formally awarded next month, coinciding with Armed Forces Week and Memorial Day.

The top installations for other services include Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., for the Army; Naval Base San Diego, Calif, for the Navy; Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska for the Air Force; and the Defense Supply Center Susquehanna in New Cumberland, Pa., for the Defense Logistics Agency.

For more information on the award, visit http:// www.defense.gov/news.