317 AG receives two AF level awards

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Robert Hicks
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The 317th Airlift Group has added two more awards to its trophy case after winning Air Force level Ground Safety and Flight Safety Plaques March 2, 2012.

The awards recognize organizations below major command, direct reporting unit and forward operating agency level for outstanding achievement in, or contribution to, ground and flight safety.

Some of their achievements include zero fatalities over a 24-month period and no reportable mishaps during the Air Force 101 Critical Days of Summer. They also received the best small unit logistics resource management program in the command.

"Having won the Ground Safety Plaque is big for us," said Capt. Andrew Salcido, 317th AG flight safety officer. "In previous years the group didn't meet the standards to apply for the award due to fatalities or some other mishap."

Comprised of 1,288 Airmen in six squadrons, the group has 34 C-130 Hercules and Super Hercules aircraft and a 97 percent mission effectiveness rate with zero class A or B mishaps.

The unit safely executed the largest C-130 formation on record, a 29-ship, and dropped 1,700 troops and 70 tons of cargo on target with no incidents at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La.

"There are so many different aircraft and units involved," Salcido said. "We don't have the same safety regulations, so we get together and consider the safest way possible to have troops and cargo dropped onto the target."

The 317th AG safely led Pakistan flood relief delivering $120 million in aid and 465 tons of cargo.

"We didn't win these awards because of the safety flight," Salcido said. "We won these awards because the airmen here went out and did things safely."