PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 920th Rescue Wing Aviation Safety Office brought home the 2020 fiscal year Air Force Reserve Command Outstanding Achievement Award for Flight Safety.
The five-man team earned the organizational award by being proactive in determining negative trends and hazards across the wing’s aviation units.
“Flight safety officers, myself, and respective safety representatives within squadrons work to ensure that all of the programs are following the appropriate guidelines,” said a 920th RQW Flight Safety Noncommissioned Officer. “If we have any discrepancies, we address them before something little turns into something big.”
The safety office professionally assesses procedures, hazards and inefficiencies.
“We want people to do their jobs, using safe practices and mitigating risk, so they can do dangerous activities in the safest way possible,” said the 920th RQW Chief of Safety. “Corrections result in higher sortie generation, enable aircrew to fly more, allows them to be more efficient and increases combat mission ready rates.”
More successful flights bolster mission effectiveness and fighting power.
“Even with 50% increased discrepancy reporting, we reduced the number of damaging mishaps by 87% this fiscal year compared to last year,” the Chief of Safety said. “That’s the lowest it has been in the last five years.”
In addition to the organizational award, 920th RQW Aviation Safety Officer Lt. Col. John M. Tatton won the AFRC Safety Officer of the Year.
“The nominations were impressive and the competition was intense,” said AFRC safety director, Col. John A. Lesho, III, who announced the 2020 fiscal year’s Safety Award Winners. “I congratulate all of the nominees and commend them for their dedication to duty and outstanding performance.”
Based at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, the 920th RQW is the only Air Force Reserve Command that trains and equips Airmen to carry out its mission to plan, lead, and conduct military rescue operations and missions to deny competitors and adversaries exploitation of isolated personnel. Air Force rescue is the only DoD entity specifically organized, trained and equipped to conduct personnel recovery operations into hostile or denied areas as a primary mission.
The 920th RQW comprises 23 subordinate groups and squadrons, including three geographically separated units; one at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, one at Portland, Oregon, and one at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.