JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska is a finalist for the Air Force’s 2020 Commander-in-Chief’s Installation Excellence Award. JBER and Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, are the finalists competing for the winning spot out of the 183 United States Air Force installations worldwide.
Former President Ronald Reagan instituted the CINC IEA in 1985. The presidential award recognizes innovation and superior operation of military installations that have best used their resources to support the mission.
JBER was awarded the nomination following a successful year of executing agile combat support and homeland defense missions around the globe while tackling several large-scale events, to include a magnitude 7.1 earthquake and Northern Edge ‘19, PACAF’s largest Arctic security exercise.
“This was a stellar year for Team JBER,” said Col. Patricia Csànk, Joint Base and 673d Air Base Wing commander. “I am proud to serve with such an incredible, innovative team, which absolutely includes our extraordinary mission partners. Collectively our joint force team, families, and community partners drove the execution of significant operations and historic milestones for JBER. Mission excellence is why JBER is the Pacific’s keystone weapon system.”
Team JBER service members also led the way with innovative programs and partnerships to include audacious experiments in cyber defense, the Air Force’s first Tactical Combat Casualty Care training program, research and development of a cutting-edge logistics app for deployment processing, wildland firefighting partnerships, an Air Force Hennessy Award finalist food services program, and an Air Force Spark Tank finalist aircraft de-fueling hose. Through creative approaches, JBER saved taxpayers more than $5,088,000 this past year alone.
The CINC Installation Excellence selection board is visiting JBER January 12th through the 15th to inspect several JBER units, programs and initiatives. Quality-of-life improvements, green initiatives, and innovation programs within the installation are the focus areas under assessment. A winner will be announced after the inspection of both finalists.
As a finalist, JBER will receive a $750,000 prize to put towards quality-of-life improvements across the installation. The Installation Excellence Award winner will receive an overall $1.25 million. Arctic Tough, Family Strong!