Wing safety office wins 22nd AF awards

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Steve Lewis
  • 512th Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Twenty-second Air Force recently named the 512th Airlift Wing Safety Office and its members in its annual awards competition.

The 22nd AF Safety Office of the Year goes to the 512th AW. The award recognizes the office for enhancing the Total Force concept through working with their regular Air Force counterparts from the 436th Airlift Wing from Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009.

"We're one of few safety offices in the command that's co-located and operates with the regular Air Force, said Lt. Col. Donald Whitley, 512th AW chief of safety. That's paid off in big dividends, because it's allowed us to keep up to speed and stay involved."

Two members of the office also scored 22nd AF titles with their individual outstanding achievements.

Master Sgt. Arthur Gauani is the 22nd AF Ground Safety NCO of the Year. As a ground safety technician, he served as the ground safety manager for more than 750 joint service members while working on the 2009 Armed Forces Presidential Inauguration Committee. He also participated as an inspector general team member several times during the course of the year and was one of the wing's master sergeant selects through the Promotion Enhancement Program.

Tech. Sgt. James Duff is the 22nd AF Weapons Safety NCO of the Year. He performed 161 days of MPA man-days in 2009 to support the Team Dover Weapons Safety Program; and, his accomplishments include combining explosive-related base operating instructions into one OI for the Liberty and Eagle Wings to reference.

"Although I was recognized for this award as an individual, it was a team effort across the board," said Sergeant Duff. "I think we have such a good working relationship with the 436th (AW)."

Following this 22nd AF accolade, Colonel Whitley said he now plans to get his team more involved with the flight line operations and making more improvements this year.

Overall, he said his goal has always been and will be to increase safety awareness unilaterally across the base. (Master Sgt. Veronica A. Aceveda, 512th Public Affairs contributed to this story.)