American Legion recognizes Dyess support team

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Joel Mease and Airman 1st Class Alexander Guerrero
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The American Legion, Department of Texas, recently announced that the M1 Support Services here received the Texas Small Employer of the Year Award for 2013.

The Dyess M1 team, which performs B-1B Lancer maintenance for the 7th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, received the award for being the top veteran employer in the state. The award presentation will occur July 11 in McAllen, Texas.

One common theme when Dyess maintenance professionals describe the B-1 maintenance team from M1 is veteran experience.

"100 percent of our guys are veterans, and a lot of them came from Dyess," said Otis Duffee, M1 Support Services project manager. "Even the company owner is a veteran."

That experience is extremely valued by the 7th AMXS, said Maj. Kevin Koren, 7th AMXS Operations officer.

"Our M1 team provides us experience and cross utilization of a single employee that is not matched by the current blue-suit capability," Koren said. "For example, a maintenance task that requires three different technicians with a span of 3-7 years of experience on the B-1 can be accomplished by one M-1 technician with an average of 15 years' experience on the B-1."



This added benefit also allows the 7th AMXS to leverage that experience to not only get the job done, but provide valuable training to its Airmen.

"Their experience and veteran status gives the 7th Maintenance Group look-back capability on B-1 problems some of our current technicians have not seen before," Koren said. "This enables the M1 team to pass-on their experiences and knowledge to our maintenance technicians for future problems."

In addition, the M1 team has been a critical link in providing the 7th Bomb Wing aircraft availability and sortie production. In Fiscal Year 2013 alone, the team provided more than 68,000 man hours of labor towards the 7th Bomb Wing mission.

Part of obtaining that experience is by making a track record of hiring veterans, said Filberto Salazar, M1 Support Services supply technician.

"Once veterans are with us, we teach them a base knowledge of aircraft maintenance," Salazar said. "This allows us to operate more effectively by using less time and money towards training and allowing our veterans to do what they're good at."

Being able to be a part of Team Dyess has also allowed veterans to continue to serve their country even after they've hung up their uniforms, Duffee added. Being recognized by the American Legion only reaffirms their dedication to veterans.

"Our people, our veterans make this job what it is," Duffee said. "It's awesome to be recognized for having the people we do on our team."

The award is one the 7th AMXS is happy to see being given to a veteran laden team.

"Their contributions, although hard to quantify, are pivotal to home station and combat capability here at Team Dyess," Koren said.