Total force team wins Chief of Staff Award

  • Published
  • 19th Space Operations Squadron
SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  A total force team comprised of members from 19th and 2nd Space Operations Squadrons, Space and Missile Systems Center's Global Positioning System Directorate, and supporting contractors earned the Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award for their work in executing the launch of the first GPS IIF last year. Air Force Chief of Staff, General Norton Schwartz, presented the award to team representatives during the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference in Washington, D.C., Sept. 20. The team was one of five award winners and was selected from a field of 23 nominees from across the Air Force.

"This is a fantastic credit to what Total Force Integration can accomplish," said Lt. Col. Damon Feltman, 19 SOPS commander. "Each organization brought unique capabilities to the task of launching the first IIF. I'm glad we were able to showcase our teamwork and be recognized as one of the Air Force's best."

Lt. Col. Jennifer Grant, the 2 SOPS commander, echoed the sentiment.

"I take pride in the accomplishment of our total force team in the launch, checkout and deployment of the next generation of GPS satellites," Grant said. "I'm excited that the hard work of our subject matter experts, engineers and operators were recognized by the chief of staff of the Air Force for such outstanding performance -- performance that I have the opportunity to observe every single day. It is truly an honor to have our units recognized for this accomplishment."

Lt. Col. Dave Learned, the GPS IIF lead for SMC's GPS Directorate, was equally proud of the win.
 
"This is a tremendous achievement that demonstrates remarkable teamwork across acquisition and operations. It highlights the Air Force commitment to ensuring GPS remains the preeminent navigation system in the world," he said.

The team was recognized for efficiencies gained during launch activities for the first GPS IIF launch. Some of the accomplishments recognized included a 50 percent reduction in the number of launch rehearsal events, a 22 percent reduction in launch and early orbit crew manning, a new Air Force Satellite Control Network resource-sharing process and an accelerated vehicle check-out process. While individual efficiencies became apparent during preparation and launch, it wasn't until they began preparing for the competition that the full scope of their improvements dawned on the team.

Team member Master Sgt. Cory Garcia, 19 SOPS, commented on how the team was able to reduce the number of launch rehearsal events.

"Historically, we prepare for a new generation of GPS satellites by performing 12 mission rehearsals," said Garcia. "We were able to reduce the number of rehearsals from 12 to six without compromising readiness. We did this by installing the IIF software upgrades on our ground system earlier than expected. This allowed us to exercise specific parts of the launch mission and reduce the number of full launch and early orbit rehearsals. This change allowed us to save more than 11,000 man-hours per launch."

"It wasn't until we began recreating the history for the chief of staff presentation that the team was able to reflect on their accomplishment," said Maj. Linda Gostomski, team co-chief for the competition. "It was quite an eye-opening experience and bringing the trophy home reinforces our day-to-day commitment to the GPS mission."

The competition required team members to prepare and present a 15-minute briefing before a panel of general officers. In addition, the team faced a 10-minute question-and-answer period from the judges. The theme of the briefing and questions centered on manpower and process efficiencies gained, money saved and sustainment of savings. Finally, the team had to prepare and man a display in the exhibit hall during the AFA Convention.

The team's road to winning was a long one;19 SOPS submitted the award package on behalf of the team last fall. In May of this year, the package was selected as one of two Air Force Reserve Command Team Excellence Award winners and was nominated for the Chief of Staff competition. Preparation for the competition was put on hold in July when the team launched the second GPS IIF. Preparations came to stop, once again, in August when the 310th regrettably lost team member and competition co-chief, Capt. Vivian Elmo, to a car accident. After naming Master Sgt. James Crosbie, 19 SOPS, as the new team co-chief, the team spent the past month refining and rehearsing their brief, as well as thinking through answers to likely questions.

"This has been amazing," said Gostomski. "The work that went into the launch, the work that went into this competition; it really shows the talent of our squadrons. I'm so glad we were able to win this for our squadrons and for Vivian."