Team Excellence Awards presented to five teams

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WASHINGTON (AFNS) --  The Air Force chief of staff presented his Team Excellence Awards at a ceremony Sept. 15 during the Air Force Association Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition here.

The awards recognize teams who used a systematic approach to enhance mission capability, improve operational performance and create sustained results.

Five teams were selected for the 2009 Chief of Staff Team Excellence Awards. The final selection was made from 22 major command award winners, picked from 114 submissions.

Improvements made by all of the award nominees combined may save the Air Force as much as $1.5 billion in the first year, officials said.

"Your efforts lay the foundation for further improvements," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz. "This is what we need to do as a matter of routine. Because these efforts do make a difference and help continue to make a better Air Force we all aspire to have."

The five 2009 award winners are:
 
-- The Enhanced Use Lease Team at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. This team also is an Air Force Best Practice recipient. 

-- The Individual Protective Equipment Team at Kadena Air Base, Japan. This team also is an Air Force Best Practice recipient. 

-- The Formal Training Distributive Training Team at Tinker AFB, Okla. This team also is an Air Force Best Practice recipient. 

-- The KC-135 Periodic Inspection Team at MacDill AFB, Fla. 

-- The C-130 Isochronal Inspection Team at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

The judges also recognized the following teams as Air Force Best Practices: 

-- The AFSO21 Area 2 Divestiture Team at Aviano AB, Italy. 

-- The Eglin Out Processing Team at Eglin AFB, Fla. 

-- The AFROTC Field Training Team, at Maxwell AFB, Ala.

"Want to feel good about the future? Just five minutes with any one of these teams and you'll know that the innovation, imagination and commitment our Air Force needs for tomorrow is alive and well today," said Maj. Gen. Duane Jones, the director of resource integration for the deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support.

General Jones served as the senior judge for the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award selection panel. 

Rounding out the major command nominations were:

-- Recognitions Service Team, Headquarters Air Reserve Personnel Center (Air Force Reserve Command), Denver, Colo.

-- Special Operations Tanker Recapitalization Team, Headquarters Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), Hurlburt Field

-- Current Operations Team, 97th Operations Support Squadron (Air Education and Training Command), Altus AFB, Okla.

-- Avionics Section Improvement Team, 315th Maintenance Group (AFRC), Charleston AFB, S.C.

-- Military Satellite Communications Capabilities Team, Headquarters Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), Peterson AFB, Colo.

-- Distributed Mission Operations Team, Air Forces Northern (Air National Guard), Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

-- Communications and Information Support Contractor-to-Civilian Team, 341st Missile Wing (AFSPC), Malmstrom AFB, Mont.

-- Air Force Housing Privatization Program Management Team, Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, Brooks City-Base, Texas

-- Enterprise Information Management Team, Headquarters Air Mobility Command (AMC), Scott AFB, Ill.

-- SUDDEN SPIRIT Team, Headquarters Air Force Intelligence Analysis Agency, Washington, D.C.

-- Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division Team, 11th Air Force (Pacific Air Forces), Elmendorf AFB, Alaska

-- Major Validation/Verification Team, 105th Maintenance Squadron (ANG), Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.

-- F-22 Raptor Increment 3.1 Modification Team, 412th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (Air Force Materiel Command), Edwards AFB, Calif.

-- Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver Trainer Team, United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Ramstein AB, Germany