152nd Airlift Wing receives Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

Tech. Sgt. Eric Ritter, 152nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

RENO— It’s one of the most significant sym­bols of teamwork by Air Force standards and an award a unit could never receive without the hard work of everyone assigned.

Brig. Gen. Bill Burks, the Adjutant General for Nevada, and Brig. Gen. David Snyder, the commander of the Nevada Air National Guard, presented the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award to the men and women of the 152nd Airlift Wing during a Nevada Air Guard Base ceremony here on June 2.

It’s not an easy award to win, but the 152nd almost made it look that way by doing what it does best—performing missions domestical­ly and globally with unmatched professionalism and technical skill.

The award covered the period of Sept. 2009 to Sept. 2011 and spotlighted hundreds of 152nd airmen who responded to extremely demand­ing mission requirements and an opera­tions tempo unprecedented in its history.

“In this two-year period, the High Rollers di­rectly contributed to the national security requirements of our country, weathering high demands and hardships which they have voluntarily placed upon them­selves and their families with constant ac­tivations and numerous deployments,” Burks said.

About 75 percent of the unit’s 900 members mobilized during this period in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, En­during Freedom, New Dawn, Deep Freeze and Coronet Oak. Several unit members performed multiple rotations overseas sup­porting airlift, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, aerial port oper­ations, civil engineering and security forces functions.

What really made headlines for the 152nd, though, was the outcome of the five major compliance inspections where the unit achieved “Excellent” or “Outstanding” for most of the grades. The wing’s “Excel­lent” score achieved during last summer’s Unit Compliance Inspection was especially rare, even for active duty units.

Other notable incidents taken into consideration included: a situation where deployed aircrew members apprehended an Afghan Taliban on their aircraft; nine airmen who volunteered for a year-long ground mission with the Agribusiness De­velopment Team; commu­nity support for the deadly 2011 National Championship Air Races crash north of Reno and destructive wild­fires in northern Nevada.

There’s no doubt this has been a historical period for 152nd and although some missions are changing, the unit shows no signs of slowing down.

“The men and women of the 152nd continue to excel in every area,” Burks said. “Their passion to be the best unit, taking on any challenge, exemplifies the core values of the Air Force. Their enthusiasm and dedi­cation to constantly improve and be the very best is contagious.”