The 510th FS “Buzzards” are now in competition with five other units for the coveted Phoenix Trophy for “Best of the Best” honors, an award the 555th Fighter Squadron here won in 1999.
The Phoenix Trophy will be presented to the winner during a special banquet at the Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition Oct. 30 in Reno, Nev.
“I am extremely pleased with this award,” said Lt. Col. Michael Fantini, 510th FS commander. “Winning this prestigious award says a lot about the dedication, teamwork, commitment and professionalism of the men and women of the 510th. We are honored to be recognized for demonstrating the highest standards of performance in support of our missions.”
Even during a year of high operations tempo, the Buzzards still managed to excel. While deployed on a contingency to Operation Northern Watch, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, they took the taskings of A-10 and F-15 squadrons and performed both missions.
These missions included emergency defense suppression and combat search and rescue. At that time, the 31st Fighter Wing was the only F-16 wing in the Air Force qualified to perform combat search and rescue missions, a role normally tasked to A-10 units.
Since the Buzzards were trained in both roles it was more cost effective for them to perform their missions, said Maj. Chris Lee, 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintenance supervisor. One squadron performing the mission of two reduced cost and OPTEMPO because A-10 and F-15E squadrons from the States did not have to come overseas to fill these taskings.
“This achievement, along with high morale, superior teamwork, and a great working relationship with the other maintenance organizations in the wing, were major factors in the Buzzards winning this award,” Lee said. “It was a real team effort. We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Triple Nickel and 31st Maintenance Squadron.
“In addition, the Buzzards were well represented throughout the world in 2001,” Lee added. “We spent six months supporting Operation Joint Guardian from here at home station, but we also went to Red Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Combat Archer at Tyndall AFB, Fla. In addition, the Buzzards supported a number of smaller deployments throughout Europe, to include the Tactical Leadership Program in Belgium and Scotland Flag in Scotland.
Even while supporting all these deployments, the Buzzards still maintained a mission capability rate of almost 85 percent last year, Lee said. “It was higher than Air Combat Command’s standard, the Pacific Air Force’s standard, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe standard. It was also the best rate for the F-16 in the Air Force, but just barely ahead of the Triple Nickel. We also had a low rate for aircraft landing with maintenance problems (Code 3), and also one of the lowest rates for missions which were aborted due to mechanical problems.”
Lee said it was because of great maintainers that the Buzzards were able to fly an aggressive schedule last year. They flew more than 3,400 sorties. Combined with all of their upgrade training missions and combat sorties, the 510th was responsible for more than 6,000 flying hours. They also flew more than 2,000 hours of contingency ops and more than 600 sorties associated with contingency operations.
All this was achieved due to the high level of superiority in their maintenance program, said Senior Master Sgt. Bruce Tucker, 31st AMXS lead production superintendent.
“We have dedicated crews responsible for their aircraft. Their names are on the jets and they take a lot of pride in their aircraft and what they do,” Tucker said.
Tech. Sgt. Daren Gunn, the 31st Fighter Wing Dedicated Crew Chief of the Year for 2001, is one of the maintainers who takes prides in his job. “I love my job and keeping my aircraft in tip-top condition,” he said.
But keeping an aircraft flying takes a lot of teamwork, Gunn said. “The teamwork here is incredible because everybody pulls together. It’s the best I’ve seen in my 17 years in the Air Force.”
Staff Sgt. Eric Carstens, 31st AMXS avionics craftsman agrees that teamwork was the common denominator in their winning the award. “The teamwork between the pilots and maintainers is great. We enjoy what we do, and we always make sure we are on the same page,” he said.
Carstens said he’s proud to be part of the Buzzards team and that it feels great to be recognized by the Secretary of Defense and the Air Force for basically doing his job. Doing an outstanding job is just the “normal” Buzzard standard, he said.
-- USAFENS --
