Airmen earn Gen. Lew Allen Award

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Russell P. Petcoff
  • Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  Two aircraft maintenance Airmen received the Gen. Lew Allen Jr. Award Nov. 16 in a ceremony in the Airman's Hall of the Pentagon.

Maj. Eliot Sasson, an operations officer with the 437th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.; and Senior Master Sgt. Franklin Galloway, the 14th Aircraft Maintenance Unit superintendent at Misawa Air Base, Japan, received their awards from Gen. Carrol H. "Howie" Chandler, the vice chief of staff of the Air Force.

The award honors accomplishments of a base-level officer and senior NCO in aircraft, munitions or missile maintenance directly involved in aircraft sortie generation.

Once a year, Air Force officials honor an officer and senior NCO in the maintenance career field whose efforts have a big impact on the service, General Chandler said. He noted that the award is named for the service's 10th chief of staff who served in office from July 1978 to July 1982. General Chandler said General Allen's legacy was attention to detail and technical expertise, attributes reflected in the nominees honored with the award bearing his name.

Major Sasson thanked the Airmen of the 437th Maintenance Group and its Reserve associate unit the 315th Maintenance Group, saying that he is merely a representative of their work. "They do the work in generating the aircraft in the grueling heat and the cold, in the rain and wind and all conditions. They are the ones who deserve the trophy, the recognition and the press."

Sergeant Galloway equally thanked his fellow Airmen for his accomplishment.

"The trophy represents the hard work of the leadership and Airmen at Misawa who produce airpower everyday at home station and at deployed locations all around the world," the sergeant said.

Major Sasson established a tactics office that improved Joint Precision Airdrop System reliability by 500 percent. Furthermore, the 437th AXMS conducted more than 19,000 airlift missions in 2008 with 53 percent in support of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

According to his citation, Sergeant Galloway contributed to the war effort by taking 171 F-16 Fighting Falcon maintenance Airmen to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He and his team generated 1,900 combat sorties and 7,700 flying hours without missing an air tasking order. His team maintained an 82 percent fully mission capable rate.