306th Flying Training Group wins top airfield award

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Crew members at the Air Force Academy capped off a challenging 2020 by winning the year’s Ronald B. McCarthy Airfield Management Facility award.

The award recognizes the 306th Operations Support Squadron for keeping the Air Force’s third-busiest airfield up and running during $7 million of ongoing runway refurbishments.  The squadron is attached to the 306th Flying Training Group based at the Academy, but assigned to Air Education and Training Command in Texas.

“Winning at the Headquarters AETC Command level means we competed against all AETC airfield management facilities, a true honor as there are a lot of great facilities [across the Air Force] and tough competition,” said airfield manager Don Alexander.

During fiscal year 2020-2021, the airfield crews at the Academy managed roughly 73,000 sorties.

Also, Nickolette Reynolds, an airfield operations manager, earned AETC’s Airfield Management Technician of the Year award for 2020. 

“These accomplishments are a direct result of the great relationship we’ve established with the 10th Air Base Wing that keeps the airfield safe and operational,” Alexander said.

The Academy’s Airmanship Programs include soaring training; powered flight; Airmanship next, which places cadets in simulated flying conditions; and parachuting.

The Academy paid tribute to the barrier-breaking career of Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Tuskegee Airman and World War II pilot, when it named its airfield in his honor, Nov. 1.