Westover earns top honors in AFRC

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Andrew Biscoe
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass --  Air Force Reserve officials announced that Westover's host unit is the top reserve wing in the nation.

     The 439th Airlift Wing has earned the 2010 Airlift/Tanker Association's Lt. Gen. James E. Sherrard III Award. Air Force officials judged the wing's performance against the other 32 Air Force Reserve wings located across the nation.

     Col. Robert Swain Jr., 439th AW commander, emphasized that this award does not single out any particular unit within what the reserve knows as the "Patriot Wing."

     "This is a team effort-driven award," he said. "This award validates what every individual in this wing does: Airmen, civilians and the contractor contribute to our overall mission. None of us succeed on our own, and that includes our families and civilian employers that allow us to continue to serve this great nation of ours."

     While the 16 C-5 transport jets at the base are the most visible aspect of Westover's mission, more than 2,400 men and women - assigned to 16 different squadrons on the base - form the backbone of that mission. They include more than 100 aerial port Air Force reservists who are deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq until this fall. More than 400 reservists joined those aerial port Airmen called up in April for overseas assignments, and are working at the base to support the surge of operations in Afghanistan.

     "This award is a well deserved acknowledgement of the outstanding contribution to the Total Force effort made by your unit and the entire Air Force Reserve Command," said Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner," commander of the Air Force Reserve, in an email to the Westover wing. "Please accept and convey my heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to every member of the 439th Airlift Wing."

     The award's namesake, Sherrard, was commander of the Air Force Reserve from September 1998 to June 2004. The 439th AW has hosted Westover since it became an Air Force Reserve base in 1974.

     Wing officials will receive the award later this fall in Orlando, Fla.