NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AFNS) -- Process improvements don’t always save the Air Force money, but when they lead to cost saving ideas, senior leaders recognize it.
That’s exactly what happened when retired Gen. Larry O. Spencer, Air Force Association president, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright presented the Gen. Larry O. Spencer Award to Master Sgt. Andrew Kehl, from the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron out of Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, during a ceremony at National Harbor, Sept. 18, 2017.
According to the citation, in 2016, Kehl led the 52nd Fighter Wing to number one of eight wings in U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, in cost savings, totaling $18 million and 145,000 man-hours. This earned the 52nd FW the 2016 U.S. Air Force Europe’s Innovation Madness competition.
Continuing with recognition in the team category, Wilson, Spencer, Goldfein and Wright presented the award to the Logistics Information Technology Innovation Team from Headquarters Air Force.
According to The Logistics Information Technology Innovation Team’s citation, they expertly identified, assessed and prioritized more than 357th Logistics Information Technology systems and applications for consolidation, re-hosting to an approved cloud environment and remediation.
Created in 2015, the award is named after former Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer, who helped create an innovative culture for Airmen to follow, and championed the Every Dollar Counts campaign along with the Airman Powered by Innovation website.
Awards such as these aim to acknowledge the hard work of the Airmen driving innovation to secure our future.