Recognizing our best

by Brig. Gen. Mark Dillon
86th Airlift Wing commander

Gathering military members to recognize excellence among the ranks is a time-honored tradition dating back thousands of years. History’s great military leaders learned long ago that rewarding exceptional performance serves many purposes, including boosting morale, creating role models, and inspiring friendly competition within their units to vie for future recognition.

In today’s Air Force, we’ve learned there are many ways to encourage our Airmen, whether through an informal pat on the back, a Department of Defense-level award, or anything in between. Our system works, and the incredible performance every day by our all-volunteer force speaks for itself.

On Feb. 18, the 86th Airlift Wing upheld its long-standing Air Force tradition by celebrating its annual awards banquet. We brought together nominees from all over the wing, and the best performers of 2010 were chosen from among them.
I’d like to congratulate our annual award winners, our nominees and all of their collective family members — you are our very best.

You represent a level of excellence and dedication within our community we can all aspire to.

Best of luck as you compete at the U.S. Air Forces in Europe level.