7th LRS teams, individuals earn recognition for superior performance

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kylee Thomas
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

Providing supplies, equipment and fuel to units, receiving and storing multi-million dollar pieces of property, and fulfilling numerous requirements to achieve the needs of Dyess Air Force Base, is just part of how the 7th Logistics Readiness Squadron has earned recognition of the Air Force Global Strike Command.

This unit received several awards for their outstanding performance from the year of 2017 through 2018.

“It’s not all me and the job I do that has gotten our unit this prestigious recognition,” said Lt. Col. Jerry Ottinger, 7th LRS commander. “It’s the chiefs, the flights and the Airmen who finish whatever job needs to get done and fuel the fight every day.”

Although Ottinger focused credit on his Airmen, he was also the recipient of an award: the General Thomas P. Gerrity Award. He received this award in recognition of his leadership within the unit.

“When I first got here, this squadron was not even close to what it is now,” said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Craig, 7th LRS chief enlisted manager. “Because of Colonel Ottinger’s high energy and understanding of what needs to get done, he has guided flight commanders and noncommissioned officers of the 7th LRS to achieve more than what was necessary to do in order to complete the mission. Essentially, he won this award because of his dedication to the Airmen and mission of this squadron.”

The Airmen are vital to mission success within the squadron, but they’re also vital to the success to missions across the installation.

“Although we may be assigned to the 7th Mission Support Group, we are not about our own functions,” said Ottinger. “The things we have been graded on are how well we support readiness and sortie generation. Lethality and readiness are the things that matter most for a military force.”

The squadron also won three awards recognizing the work of two flights.  The 7th LRS Fuels Management Flight earned the Air Force Air Force American Petroleum Institute Trophy award, and the 7th LRS Vehicle Management Flight earned both the AFGSC General Larry O. Spencer Innovation Award and the AFGSC General Mark A. Welsh III "One Air Force" Award.

Both of these flights distinguished themselves throughout the year, whether that was by providing millions of gallons of aviation and ground fuels to all government aircraft and vehicles or managing and maintaining over 500 vehicles on base.

“The flights in this squadron are the ones that really had the impact on the logistics operations management processes,” said Ottinger. “They come to me with a plan that already entails what needs to happen and get done in order to solve a problem and support our assets however they see fit.”

Along with the flights being recognized, multiple individuals received awards. Senior Master Sgt. Russell Rugg, 7th LRS first sergeant, earned the NAACP Roy E. Wilkins Award; Darryl Boudreau, 7th LRS installation transportation officer, earned the AFGSC Outstanding Air Force Logistics Readiness Civilian Category II of the Year award for 2017; and Airman 1st Class Karim Ibrahim, 7th LRS equipment accountability element technician, earned the Base Honor Guard Member of the Year award for 2017.

“The individual awards that our folks earned were given to them because they have a constant fire growing under them,” said Ottinger. “They are the ones taking initiative and finding new ways to better themselves, as well as the Air Force and its Airmen all together.”

By focusing on the Dyess mission and understanding the needs of not only their squadron, but also of today’s military, the flights and individuals earned the awards presented to them by the AFGSC.

“It’s the Airmen in this squadron that do the work, and that‘s why they have been awarded,” said Craig. “They are given the tools and guidance, but ultimately the job gets done because of their diligence and devotion to the Air Force and its mission.”

The recipients of the AFGSC awards will go on to compete at the Air Force level and will be announced at a later date.