Commander tours small, essential squadrons Published Nov. 25, 2009 By Col. John Boyle 90th Mission Support Group commander F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Col. Greg Tims, 90th Missile Wing commander, recently visited the 90th Contracting Squadron and 90th Communications Squadron and had what he called, "an eye-opening experience." "These small squadrons really pack a punch," he said. The 90th CONS is involved in acquiring much of the commodity, service and construction support Warren uses every day. Be it computers, the Chadwell Dining Facility or maintenance of base pavements, the 90th CONS is there. Colonel Tims said the men and women in this squadron have performed superbly in the past year, obligating considerable funds in support of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by President Barak Obama. The $10 million in ARRA awarded by the 90th CONS will assist in the creation of 67,000 jobs in Colorado and Wyoming by 2011. "Not only did they provide outstanding support to the 90th Missile Wing but also to the Twentieth Air Force," Colonel Tims said. The 90th CONS acquisitions squadron provided for closed circuit television in the missile alert facilities; extreme cold weather gear and parkas for security forces Airmen; and the MAF re-fueling tank project that increases helicopter endurance and range enhancing security and contingency response. During his visit, Colonel Tims was introduced to people who, although new to the acquisition career field, demonstrated the pursuit of perfection expected of each and every member of the 90th Missile Wing. According to the wing commander, two members stood out in particular. These 90th CONS members were 1st Lt. Dan Stephens, one of two base members chosen to attend Naval Post Gradual School in 2010 and Angela Muzquiz, one of 100 Air Force civilians chosen to attend squadron officer school in 2010. "The men and women of the 90th Contracting Squadron are integral to the Mighty Ninety mission from contracting repairs in the missile field to ensuring a quality dining facility and even procuring issue uniform items we wear to perform our duties. Colonel Tims said his visit to the 90th CS also made a lasting impression. "When I was in the COMSEC office, I was amazed by the number of safes they have and the amount of cryptographic material they process ... the most in the command," said. "Without these troops, we couldn't receive a single classified message, on base or in the missile field. They do a phenomenal job keeping our accounts straight and our equipment up to date. The last time they were inspected, they shacked it -- a perfect inspection." The colonel gave particular praise to Karl Sontag, Staff Sgt. Gabe Sanchez, Staff Sgt. Amber Lane and Airman 1st Class Vince Iapichino, 90th CS, for a job well done. Colonel Tims also spent some time with the folks in our network control center. Joe Lawrence and Andy Durnan showed him firewalls, intrusion detection systems, anti-virus servers, e-mail servers and file servers with back-ups to the back-ups to the back-ups. "I took a couple of things away from this experience," he said. "First, I'm glad they're doing it, not me. Second, we are in great hands. These folks are really working hard to ensure our network is working for us whenever and however we need it. Finally, we'd all better be surfing the Internet right, because this crew will catch you if you don't. "They showed me how they could drill all the way down to the files on my computer without getting out of their chair," he added. Colonel Tims also met a communications team that does spend a lot of time out of their chairs and on the road which is made up of the ground radio troops. These Airmen, led by Tech Sgt. Keith Bylow, 90th CS, handle Warren's land mobile radios. They install them in the vehicles that go to the missile field, and they've been spending a lot of time out in the complex themselves as the base gets ready to turn on wide area coverage. This is a program that will improve our missile field radio coverage and make it easier to use. "When I stop to think about it, there is little we do to deliver pre-eminent combat capability across the spectrum of conflict that we don't do without the help of the comm squadron," Col. Tims said. "Again, what an eye opening experience," he added.