GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Upon arriving back from the holidays, the men and women of the 17th Training Wing received one last holiday surprise in the announcement that the wing earned the 2017 Air Force Outstanding Unit Award.
“The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is a huge deal, as not every Wing is awarded this honor,” said Col. Ricky Mills, 17th Training Wing commander. “This recognition reflects all of your collective hard work, sacrifice and innovation. I’m fiercely proud to serve with amazing Airmen on this championship team.”
The Air Force recognized the 17th TRW’s performance with this award.
“The 17th TRW, Air Education and Training Command, distinguished itself with exceptionally meritorious service from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2017,” the citation reads.
Goodfellow set the standard for innovation, agility and professionalism by training as it fights.
Some of Goodfellow’s award-winning features included: a wing expansion of intelligence training to include more than 30 partner nations collaborating in a new International Intelligence Training Center. Goodfellow also pioneered the Air Force’s first Wi-Fi fire training suite, which improved training for 1,000 joint-service apprentice firefighters.
“During this period, the wing provided superior intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and fire protection training to more than 25,000 Airmen and joint partners,” the citation continues. “These were inspired graduates without peer, as the wing presented professionals to the field who were resilient, fit, and the beneficiaries of dynamic curricula focused squarely on the development of critical thinking and analysis.”
According to the Air Force Personnel Center, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is awarded by the Secretary of the Air Force to numbered units that have distinguished themselves through exceptional meritorious service or outstanding achievement, which sets the unit above and apart from similar units.
“The wing has won the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 12 times, eight of those since it was activated as the 17 TRW on Goodfellow in 1993,” said 17th TRW historian Dr. John Garrett. “The award covers two-year periods, and recognizes exceptional unit-level performance. Also, we've won it now five times in a row, a pretty good track record.”