512th AW earns meritorious unit award

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andria J. Allmond
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Members of the 512th Airlift Wing who served at Dover Air Force Base between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 31, 2005, are awarded the Meritorious Unit Award by the Secretary of the Air Force for outstanding achievement or service in direct support of combat operation in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. 

The MUA is awarded to active-duty, Reserve and Guard units for exceptionally meritorious conduct for at least 90 continuous days during the period of military operations against an armed enemy of the United States on or after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the United States Central Command Air Forces Decoration Guidebook, dated Dec. 2004. 

Units receiving this award must display outstanding devotion and superior performance or exceptionally difficult tasks as to set it apart and above other units with similar missions and be directly related to the combat effort, according to the decoration guidebook. The degree of achievement required to receive this medal is equivalent to being awarded the Legion of Merit. 

The 512th AW demonstrated exceptional service by volunteering over 73,000 mandays, flying more than 272 combat missions and directly supporting combat operations to include short notice deployments around the world, according to former commander, (ret.) Col. Ronald A. Rutland's nomination letter. 

The MUA ribbon shall be worn immediately before the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Subsequent awards will be denoted by oak leaf clusters.