As I did last quarter, I want to give a shout out to all 14,000-plus team members and our dedicated suppliers that have consistently stepped up during this difficult period to continue serving our customers.
For the first quarter, we delivered sales of nearly $1.6 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, both of which exceeded our expectations.
With 0 hydraulics and 0 emissions, the DaVinci AE1932 scissor lift represents the next-generation of electrification and elevates our position in the access industry once again.
DaVinci's innovative design reduces energy consumption by up to 70% compared to a traditional scissor lift, as JLG continues to push the innovation envelope.
I'm proud of our team as they responded effectively to these issues to deliver solid results during the quarter, including a 10% increase in sales, and continued to be a reliable source of vehicles and aftermarket support for our U.S. government customer.
During the quarter, we received another large JLTV order valued at more than $900 million that included units for several international customers.
It's important to note that the budget action appropriated an additional $86 million in funding for FMTVs and $55 million for FHTVs that we supply for the U.S. armed forces.
They worked hard to deliver strong results in the face of some significant challenges as they improved operating margins to 12.8% in the current year quarter.
The segment finished the quarter with a robust backlog of $1.2 billion, up over 9% from the prior year.
As I've mentioned in prior earnings calls, we're pleased with customer demand for our all-new S-Series 2.0 front discharge concrete mixer.
Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $1.6 billion, down 7% from the prior year quarter.
The decline was driven by decreases of 22% in Access Equipment sales and 13% in Commercial sales, partially offset by increased sales in both the Defense and Fire & Emergency segments.
Consolidated adjusted operating income for the first quarter was $104.6 million or 6.6% of sales compared to $109.1 million or 6.4% of sales in the prior year quarter.
Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.13 compared to earnings per share of $1.10 in the prior year.
First quarter 2021 results benefited from a discrete tax benefit of $0.09 per share related to a favorable resolution of a tax audit.
We're pleased with our solid start to the year, including strong consolidated adjusted decremental margins of 4% in the first quarter.
During our last earnings call, we discussed an $85 million pre-tax cost headwind we expect to face in 2021, consisting of $120 million of temporary cost reductions in 2020, returning in 2021, offset by approximately $35 million of permanent cost reduction benefits.
Looking at the second quarter, we will face year-over-year headwinds of about $25 million from a combination of last year's temporary cost reductions, offset by the benefit of permanent cost reductions we previously announced.
Our balance sheet remains strong with further strengthened during the past quarter with solid working capital improvements yielding available liquidity at the end of the quarter of approximately $1.7 billion consisting of cash of approximately $900 million and availability under revolving line of credit of over $800 million.
I'm even more proud of our people and the leadership team we have in place at Oshkosh, and I want them to know, it's been an honor to work with all of them in these past 16 years.

Summary:
For the first quarter, we delivered sales of nearly $1.6 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.13, both of which exceeded our expectations.
Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was $1.13 compared to earnings per share of $1.10 in the prior year.