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Reflecting on the first year of the 87th ABW

  • Published
  • By Col. Gina Grosso
  • 87th ABW and JB MDL Commander
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  The 87th Air Base Wing passed a significant milestone this week--we celebrated our first Birthday. It's hard to believe the 87th ABW stood up one year ago this week. Much has happened in our first year--we have much to be proud of and much more to look forward to.

As I reflected on what we have done the past 365 days, several thoughts come to mind.

When I took the time to catalog what we had done this past year the results were impressive. From the day we stood-up we have operated at a furious pace balancing mission and people in our effort to stand up the Joint Base which occurred at almost exactly our 6-month birthday. Just two weeks after we stood up the wing, the Secretary of the Air Force came to visit us. In our case, his visit was prophetic because since then we have had 147 two-star and above visits across the joint base to include the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Higher Headquarters inspected the Wing seven times, four of which were no-notice. We supported the 621st Contingency Response Wing's deployment to Haiti and with less than 3-hours notice took care of almost 600 Haiti evacuees that same weekend. We also participated in our first operational exercise with the 108th Air Wing. As we all know this was a historic year for snow fall. A historian shared with me that you would have to go back to the revolutionary war period to find snow fall that equaled the amount we received this year. Our snow removal teams worked tirelessly across the joint installation clearing snow from the runway, roads and parking lots to ensure the mission continued.

Simultaneously, we took the joint base from its Initial Operational Capability to Full Operational Capability in less than 6-months and we successfully integrated almost a thousand former Army and Navy personnel into the wing in a single day. At FOC, the 87th ABW created the largest Security Forces Squadron (outside a missile field); the largest Safety Office; the largest Force Support Squadron in Air Mobility Command; and the largest vehicle fleet in Air Mobility Command.

Your hard work has been recognized with several major command awards to include:

· AMC best Wing Public Affairs office
· AMC Silver Award Winner for Military Justice
· AMC Distinguished Explosive Safety Award
· AMC Best Large Command Post of the Year
· AMC Facility Design Award
· AMC Small and Disadvantaged Business Excellence Award
· AMC Education and Training Program of the Year
· AMC Civilian Personnel Program of the Year
· AMC Human Resource Program of the Year
· AMC RODEO Performance: you took two of the four Security Forces RODEO Awards: the Combat Endurance and Close Precision Engagement Winner
· AMC Best Ambulatory Clinic Patient Safety Program
· AMC Best Medium Dental Clinic
· And the Air Force Patient Safety Team Award

As you can see, we have had many, many bests throughout this year. This is just a small picture of the great work you do on a daily basis.

I could not be more proud or impressed with the men and women who make up the 87th ABW. You have done a magnificent job taking care of the mission despite many obstacles that were in your way. You have already created a number of installation best practices and I am sure there will be many more to come.

Happy Birthday 87th Air Base Wing!