AFRC Nominates Westover for presidential award

  • Published
  • By TSgt. George Cloutier
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  For the second year in a row, Air Force Reserve Command has nominated Westover for the 2014 Commander-in-Chief 's Annual Award for Installation Excellence.

According to Wayne Williams, Base Civil Engineer and Fire Marshal who authored Westover's award package, the CINC award is an annual competition at the DOD level that encourages and rewards installations that maintain high standards and continue to improve how they meet assigned DOD missions. The winning installation receives $1 million and the runner-up receives $500,000.

"Westover is a small but vibrant installation, with a dedicated and hardworking team of professionals who take great pride in the work they do to support America's Air Force and the joint/tenant population of our base," said Col. Steven Vautrain, 439th Airlift Wing Commander.

"In the two years that I have been here I have been amazed and impressed by the cooperative spirit and the commitment to excellence of the entire Westover team. I would gladly match our team up against any active-duty installation in our Air Force, and we would be honored to represent Air Force Reserve Command again in this year's competition."

Some of Westover's accomplishments highlighted in the award package include:

-Providing reliable airlift for warfighters by flying 3,831 hours, moving 4,601 person- nel and 10.7 kilotons of cargo while keeping the Air Force's best mission capable rate. - Maintaining one of AFRC's busiest airfields with 9,000 civilian flights, 120 training sorties and over 18,000 wartime support/ local missions.

- Completing an $8 million runway project and starting a $25 million fuel hydrant retrofit project which will result in a massive increase in airfield capability.

- Hosting 20 F-15s from the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing with 30 days notice, ensuring success of critical NORTHCOM alert mission.

In 1984, the President of the United States established the CINC's Annual Award for Installation Excellence to recognize the outstanding efforts of the people who operate and maintain Department of Defense installations and who have done the best with their resources to support the mission. The award encourages commanders to create an environment that promotes innovative and creative ways of enhancing base-level services, facilities, and quality-of-life.