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Outstanding teamwork in the Mighty Ninety

  • Published
  • By Col. Greg Tims
  • 90th Missile Wing commander
Last week was my last heritage monthly celebration. I sure have enjoyed these events. A special thanks to Jim Hunt, 90th Missile Wing Equal Opportunity, for ensuring the right guidance and direction was given to each of these to make them first-class events. While those of us sitting in the audience get a chance to sit back and relax, no doubt a tremendous amount of effort has gone into these, and the Asian-Pacific luncheon was no different. The points of contact were Master Sgt. Chad Hooks and 2nd Lt. Clinton Chandler, both from the 90th Missile Maintenance Squadron, and the emcee was Senior Airman Katie Choiniere, also from 90 MMXS -- all of you did a superb job. The Kempo demonstration by Master Sgt. Greg Colbaugh, 90th Missile Operations Squadron, and his team as well as the Hawaiian dance performed by Gabriel and Aaliyah Vaden, son and daughter of Tech. Sgt. Lawrence Vaden, 90th Security Support Squadron, was a hit for all to see. I really appreciated the personal account provided by our guest speaker Airman 1st Class Ger Xiong, 90th MOS. Lastly, the food was superb. Again, well done to you all!

Our base-wide garage sale was a huge success; thanks Kim Duggan. Personally, I don't measure the success of an endeavor like this in the amount of money made, but I measure it in terms of "poundage" lost. Oh boy, did we sure lighten our load! Way to go Kim -- you rock!

Chief Master Sgt. Marty Anderson, 90th Missile Wing command chief, and I stopped in on a pre-movement briefing last week. 1st Lt. Joshua Reagan, 790th Missile Security Forces Squadron, (AKA "Mr. Hat") provided a crowded room full of warriors a very thorough and detailed briefing. It was clear to me no stone was left unturned. I was really impressed with the emphasis and importance when the Personal Reliability Program slides were briefed. As we all know, PRP is the foundation for the nuclear mission. With pre-mission planning like I witnessed that morning, it is no wonder that we execute our movements with perfection. Every day, the American people, our Air Force and Global Strike Command count on us to get it right -- and we do!

If you didn't hear, one of our very own First Sergeants was recognized recently during an event honoring them as the Air Force Association's 2011 Team of the Year. Five individuals were selected to represent this year's "Team of the Year." Master Sgt. Todd Meaney, 790 MSFS was selected for this very prestigious honor. I really appreciate the focus our First Sergeants have and the quality improvements they are instituting to enhance our Airmen's way of life. The team we have now is by far the best team of First Sergeants I have been privileged to work with in my 25 years. Well done to you, Todd, and all the F. E. Warren First Shirts!

Last Friday more good news flowed in. We found out that Bonnie Scotto, 90th Missile Wing Judge Advocate, won the Harold R. Vague Award as the Outstanding Legal Service Civilian of the Year. This is an Air Force level award! Way to go Bonnie! Additionally, our lodging office had their annual Air Force accreditation and inspection and received a score of 95 percent! That's an improvement upon last year's score of 93.7 percent. A huge congrats and thank you to all the housekeepers, maintenance workers, laborers and guest service representatives that make that success happen day in and day out for our guests here at F. E. Warren AFB.

Last Friday Chief Anderson and I attended the Change of Command for the 30th Airlift Squadron. Lt. Col. Eric Mayheu passed the flag to Lt. Col. Rodney Simpson. I just can't say enough about Eric's leadership. Even though he is not part of the 90th Missile Wing, I always treated him and his team like they belonged to us. No doubt, Eric, Heather, and their children, Connor and Colin, will be missed and we wish them the very best as they head down the road to their next assignment. Likewise, it is a pleasure to have Rodney, Paula and their children, Ryan and Grace, on board. If you see them around, be sure to congratulate them!

We had another formal blitz-the-field Friday. My team consisted of Chief Anderson and 1st Lt. Josh Winters, 90th Operations Group. We arrived at Echo-01 and received two superb briefs from Tech. Sgt. Wesley Sanderson, (Facility Manager) and Senior Airman Tony Clay, (Chef), both from the 319th Missile Squadron. Tech. Sgt. Sean Carrigan, 90th Missile Security Forces Squadron, was on scene and he and the off-going Flight Security Controller, Senior Airman Christopher Worley, also from 90 MSFS, were on their game giving first-class post-briefs. Chris was one of our FSCs when he was an airman 1st class. I sure hope he gets to show off his stuff for the upcoming NSI! When we got downstairs, we were met by 1st Lt. Barrett Perdue (Missile Combat Crew Commander) and 2nd Lt. TJ Vazquez (Missile Combat Crew Deputy), 319th Missile Squadron. Just like Chris, I hope Barrett and TJ are given a chance to perform for the NSI -- I'm confident they'll knock their socks off.

Tomorrow is Armed Forces Day. If you have a free hour to spare this Saturday, come on out to see the military demonstration at the Frontier Mall. Armed Forces Day recognizes those who raised their right hand, took an oath, and said "Send Me" to wherever my country needs me. Out at the mall you will see veterans from World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few, as well as those who are active duty serving proudly today. Our history shows we have always had a remarkable number of brave and selfless citizens willing to join the service. There were 16,112,566 who served in World War II; 5,720,000 during the Korean War; 8,844,000 in Vietnam and since 9/11 there are approximately 2 million serving today, with nearly 150,000 deployed around the world.

Go Forth and Conquer!