Osan receives 2001 Verne Orr Award
as best base in the Air Force
By Jim Lea, Osan bureau chief
Clary |
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — This busy U.S. air base is best in
the Air Force.
The Air Force Association — a civilian group that promotes
public understanding of aerospace power and national defense — named Osan as the
winner of the 2000 Verne Orr Award, given for excellence in mission accomplishment and
resource management.
“You don’t win something like this without very, very
talented people, people who come here with a great work ethic and say, ‘Let’s
get it done,’” said Brig. Gen. David E. Clary, 51st Fighter Wing commander.
“People come here, get their feet on the ground quickly, survey the situation and say
to themselves, ‘This is where I can make a difference.’”
The majority of Osan’s people serve 12-month tours. Most married
Air Force members at the base leave their families in the United States.
“They make personal sacrifices to come here, but they don’t
sit around and mope,” Clary said. “When we get people here, we don’t have
the luxury of doing three to five months of on-the-job training. We have to maximize our
resources. Immediately upon arrival, we have to train our people quickly so that they can
be productive throughout their tenure.”
He said another factor in Osan winning the award was the way its
nomination was submitted.
“We have a lot of units here, and every one of them is eligible
to compete,” he said. “We looked around and saw all the good things that are
happening and decided to submit our nomination on the wing level. That way, if we won,
everybody could be justifiably proud of their accomplishments.”
A list of the base’s accomplishments includes:
¶ The 36th Fighter Squadron received an “outstanding”
rating in its Unit Compliance Inspection (similar to an operational readiness inspection),
the first 7th Air Force and only the second Pacific Air Forces’ unit to receive that
rating.
¶ The operations support, services, security forces and
transportation squadrons, the chapel, public affairs and safety divisions, the command
post and historian rated “superior” in that inspection.
¶ The base developed the Air Force’s first airfield operations
cell and combat intelligence network.
¶ The wing received and issued more than 70,000 new chemical
protective suits to more than 6,100 people in 45 days.
¶ Won the Pacific Air Forces Food Service Excellence Award.
¶ Launched a $101 million construction and quality-of-life
improvement project.
¶ Reduced hazardous material line items by 57 percent.
¶ Transportation department moved 900,000 people and 50,000 tons of
cargo with a 98.8 percent on-time departure rate.
¶ Optimized airman morale call program to keep base personnel in
touch with their families in the United States; developed and distributed individual
calling cards for all personnel.
¶ Completed a three-mile runway, taxiway and apron upgrade.
¶ Issued 47 million gallons of aircraft fuel at an average 12
minutes per fueling.
¶ Overcame massive flooding caused by 18 inches of rain in eight
hours that resulted in more than $2 million in damage; restored six aircraft barrier
arresting engines in less than 24 hours; conducted 32 rescue missions; and restored
war-fighting capability in less than 36 hours.
One of the many other accomplishments, Clary boasted, was simply
“astounding.”
During the compliance readiness inspection, “every airplane we
have was ready to go to war." he said. “Our expectation usually is that
we’ll get as many as we can ready, but usually, a couple of them are broken and just
can’t be fixed.
“To have every single airplane ready to fly is phenomenal.”
The award, named for a former Air Force secretary, will be presented
at the Air Force Association’s annual convention in Washington in September. Clary
plans to attend.
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