3rd CES named best in Air Force

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jared Marquis
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AFB, Alaska --  In a year of money saving projects and ahead-of-schedule work, the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron had no problem demolishing the competition to become the 2006 Maj. Gen. Robert H. Curtin Large Civil Engineer Unit award winners, the top Air Force award.

"I could tell from day-one that this was a special team ... eight flights with nearly 700 people doing amazing things daily. This award simply validates what I knew all along. I'm proud to be part of such an outstanding team," said Lt. Col. James Hodges, 3rd CES commander.

The award package would make anyone proud to be a part of the 3rd CES, for example, there are multiple firsts in PACAF, money saved, largest in Air Force, led PACAF etc. Colonel Hodges credits the men and women of the 3rd CES with making this award a reality.

Larry Opperman, who put the packages together, said the easy part was writing them.
"There was no shortage of great things to put in the packages, they basically wrote themselves," said Mr. Opperman.

Colonel Hodges added that the men and women of the 3rd CES will continue to look for opportunities to excel.

"Even though we have some old infrastructure and lots of new missions and transformational challenges facing of us, the men and women of the 3rd CES continue to look for better ways of doing things and are out there building a better future for Elmendorf," he said.

He added that some of the highlights included planning and building facilities for the Air Force's newest aircraft, planning and setting the example by implementing Base Realignment and Closure-joint organizations, leading the Air Force's implementation of America's new system for disaster recovery, providing more than 2,000 on-base housing units and helping Airmen avoid skyrocketing utility bills, running the Air Force's best snow and ice control program, an unsurpassed environmental and cleanup program, and single-handedly meeting the Air Force's annual goal for reducing energy consumption, all while deploying over 100 members across the globe in support of the Global War on Terror.

Other examples of programs that led to the award were the improvements to the base theater, the clearing of nearly 80 inches of snow from more than 20 snowfalls, and the construction of a state of the art fitness center. The squadron also received the highest possible rating by the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence for the privatized housing program. The list goes on, and according to Colonel Hodges, the 3rd CES will continue to add to it.

"We'll continue to look around and ask ourselves the following questions," he said. "Is this what we'd expect from the #1 CE team in the Air Force? Is there a way to make our team at Elmendorf even better? And can we improve the motivation, family feeling, and work environment for our team?

"By keeping this kind of mindset, making each of our parts of the mission better every day, and by keeping a focus on working with our Team Elmendorf partners and family members, we will no doubt continue our winning ways," continued the colonel.
"Even more importantly, we will continue to valiantly serve this nation, execute our missions, and have a pretty good time doing it!"