Installation excellence: Whiteman is ACC runner-up, wins $50,000

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rob Hazelett
  • 509 Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Whiteman Air Force Base was selected as Air Combat Command's runner-up recipient in the 2008 Commander in Chief's Installation Excellence Award installation category Oct. 12.

In recognition of Whiteman's accomplishment, Col. Garrett Harencak, 509th Bomb Wing commander, received a check for $50,000 at the ACC commander's conference to use for quality of life improvements.

The award is given to recognize the outstanding efforts of the people who operate and maintain Department of Defense installations and who have done the best with their resources to support the mission. It also includes tenant units, which are attached to the base, to compete together as part of the host installation.

"The competition was extremely close this year, and selecting a single winner from so many truly outstanding installations was a challenging task," said Brig. Gen. Timothy Byers, ACC Installations and Mission Support director.

"It is clear that every member of our ACC team has demonstrated exceptional commitment over the past year, yielding impressive results for our installations' missions, work environment, customer service and quality-of-life, all while maintaining an extremely high ops tempo in support of operations around the world," General Byers added.

The CINC IEA program nominates installations for introducing innovative programs, which help to create and sustain excellent base operations.

The criteria for the award reviewed programs that improved the installation's work environment, increased the installation's quality of life, enhanced productivity of the installation's work force and increased customer satisfaction, encouraged bottom-to-top communication, promoted unit cohesiveness and promoted energy conservation.

Quality of life improvements are on the way at Whiteman with plans to use a portion of the money won from the program on updating the dining facility, and the other portion on some outdoor recreation updates, said Chief Master Sgt. Brian Hornback, 509th BW command chief master sergeant.

"Planning and design on the dining facility is underway, and we should see some of that starting soon," Chief Hornback said. "We're also currently evaluating new areas for the 'Area 509' paintball field, and a possible skeet/trap range, as well as batting cages.

"Whiteman is a great place to live and work, and we'll continue to listen to our folks and make improvements that matter to them," Chief Hornback added.