ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, Japan — Within a few days, Atsugi’s uniform shop was cleaned out of Battle E ribbons.
Four squadrons, with more than 1,000 sailors, earned the Battle E award for efficiency for 2004, proving themselves the most efficient Pacific Fleet squadrons in their categories.
The award means sailors from units VAW 115, VAQ 136, HS 14 and HSL 51 exhibited the best performance in every category: safety, maintenance, readiness, personnel and operations.
The first three squadrons are part of Carrier Air Wing 5 and HSL-51 augments the air wing with a carrier detachment.
“This is a big deal,” said Cmdr. Chris Bolt, VAW 115 skipper. It’s the squadron’s first E since 1999.
The recognition is important to leadership but represents the efforts of every person in the squadron, he said.
“They get to wear an E on their chest. They know how hard it is to earn that.”
“Like winning a race,” said Seaman Geovanie Rivera, a VAW 115 electrician.
Other squadron leaders had similar thoughts.
“It’s great when I tell them they’re doing a good job. (But) when somebody outside their chain of command says [it], it carries a lot of weight,” said Cmdr. John F. Meier, VAQ 136 commander. “Nobody does this for the awards but it’s nice when you’re recognized.”
The Battle E pits squadrons against their own aircraft community. There’s one for each airframe on the West Coast, which includes the Pacific, and another for the East Coast, so units compete against about a half dozen other squadrons — some of which served on Middle East cruises.
Many squadron leaders expected the award would go to the squadrons who saw combat in 2004. Although being forward-deployed in the Pacific has its own challenges, earning it without visiting the Middle East is even more flattering, they indicated.
And for those who earned it in the recent past, such as HSL-51, which is on its third consecutive Battle E, it’s a pleasant surprise.
“We were expecting someone else would get it,” joked Lt. j.g. Harriett Johnson, a pilot with HSL-51, the only squadron in its category with two types of aircraft: Sea Kings and Sea Hawks.
Each squadron gives evaluators a package summarizing results for the year.
“You don’t want to exaggerate; everybody wants to put down that they’re the best,” said operations officer Lt. Cmdr. Karl Pugh, who put together VAQ 136’s package. “The hard thing is you don’t know what the competition has done.”
The award recognizes each piece of the squadron, but judges start by looking for strong noncommissioned officers and good maintenance, Meier said. If planes don’t fly, for instance, pilots can’t demonstrate good tactics or make good landings.
Squadrons also are judged on progressive tactics.
Bolt attributes his squadron’s E in part to lessons learned during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The squadron used its skills in air traffic and tactical control to coordinate air operations for all services to provide close air support.
The squadron created new tactics in 2004 based on those experiences, Bolt said, which helped set it apart. “The success in [Operation Iraqi Freedom] really paid dividends in 2004.”
And the winners are
The following Atsugi squadrons earned the Battle E award for efficiency for 2004 in their airframe category.
