Sheppard's 82 CS sweeps AETC awards

by Airman 1st Class Jelani Gibson
82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

3/3/2014 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 82nd Contracting Squadron here, in a good show of excellence, has won all four eligible awards at the Air Education and Training Command level for the 2013 fiscal year.

The awards earned were the Outstanding Contracting Unit award, Outstanding Unit Support of the AbilityOne award, a Special Recognition award and a Small Business Achievement unit award. For the Outstanding Contracting Unit award, the squadron saved $2.4 million in labor costs and an estimated $20 million in annual savings.

For supporting the Ability One program, an initiative that focuses on employing disabled individuals in the services section, the award-winning squadron bested their disabled mandate employee mandate by 12 percent. The squadron's outstanding response and support in the wake of a T-38 crash July 19 earned it the Special Recognition Award.

"Contracting is a customer service oriented mission, our job is to take care of everyone on base," said 2nd Lt. Jonathan Yap, 82nd Contracting Squadron contract specialist. "We are in an environment where civilian and military work great together."

Tech Sgt. Keith Wilson, non-commissioned officer in charge of simplified acquisitions, attributes the squadron's level of success to the autonomy and competency that is expected of each employee that contributes to the contracting mission.

"They can execute from day one," he said. "They're constantly stretched in their thinking capacities."

As the squadron in charge of managing the base's 1,500 contract employees, Mary Whitley, a contracting officer, thinks the awards speak volumes about the type of responsibility afforded to the Airmen.

"They're doing stuff that tech's and master sergeants would be responsible for in other squadrons," she said. "They have the capability to do it."

Todd Raines, a contracting officer, wants to prepare many of the Airmen for a job they may be doing in a deployed location where the stakes are all the more higher.

"When they go overseas, they're going to be by themselves," he said. "We try to prepare them for that as best we can."

Maj. Michael Kennebrae, 82nd Contracting Squadron commander, found no difficulty in putting up his workplace for four MAJCOM awards.

"It was easy to write because we had great people," he said.

While each award signified a major achievement, Master Sgt. Dennis Carr, squadron superintendent, knew the awards said a lot about the work people in the squadron put in each and every day.

"It was great," he said. "Getting awards like this validate all of the hard work they do."