Left to Right:  MMS Director Johnnie Burton, Willie Ard, Kim Fawvor, Jack Schneider and Offshore Minerals Management Associate Director Tom Readinger

In MMS’s Lake Charles District, Diamond Offshore Drilling Company is considered one of the premiere drilling contractors. Willie Ard is a supervisor for Diamond Offshore Drilling Company on the Diamond Ocean Columbia. He has been proactive in promoting personnel safety, quickly addressing safety concerns, ensuring compliance with MMS regulations, and working with MMS inspectors.

Mr. Ard does an outstanding job keeping both the MMS inspectors and Diamond’s upper management informed about safety issues. He goes out of his way to assist the inspectors in a courteous and professional manner. He continually promotes job safety and pollution prevention.

Critics of offshore drilling should spend a week following Mr. Ard. He has earned great respect for his rig and his company. He is a credit to the drilling industry and the offshore oil and gas program.

For these reasons, Mr. Ard is most deserving of the MMS Corporate Leadership Award.