Force Support Squadron picks up slew of awards Published Nov. 29, 2011 By Benjamin Newell Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The 99th Air Base Wing Force Support Squadron received four major command-level award citations for outstanding customer service and program maintenance while accomplishing command objectives Nov. 29, 2011, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The 99 ABW Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program was selected for program of the year at the Air Combat Command level, while Maj. Audra Lyons was picked for the 2011 FSS field grade officer of the year. FSS also earned both the Gerritt D. Foster, Jr. Outstanding Military Personnel Program award and best overall manpower program award in ACC. Lyons served as FSS Commander Lt. Col. James Rumbley's operations officer, helping to oversee the largest support squadron in the continental U.S. She led daily operations for more than 1,000 military and civilian employees supporting more than 9,000 base personnel. She is currently deployed to Iraq. In addition to these overarching awards, several Nellis FSS programs were recognized for being consistently outstanding. "For the organizations who won awards, this is a big deal," said Capt. Melissa Keough, who serves as the current FSS operations officer. "So much of what we do is customer service oriented, and part of that means that you don't always hear positive feedback. Sometimes, we only hear when things go wrong, so a set of awards like this do a lot for us." The 99 ABW Child Development Program was awarded best overall in ACC, and the protocol section of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center earned the George Washington award for Protocol Excellence. "This is going to have a huge quality of service impact for all of FSS," said Chief Master Sgt. Brian Wright, 99 FSS chief enlisted manager. "We advocate for everything that has the word support in it, and we like to see that our people are rewarded for the services they provide. It reinforces what leadership already knows; our programs are outstanding." All installation level winners will compete at the overall Air Force level, where Keough says competition is stiff, especially for individual awards. "These used to be divided into sections of the support squadrons, but now all field grade officers compete against officers of similar rank in all other disciplines," said Keough. "This is the first time the categories have been compressed into one overall field within manpower." Air Force-level awards will be announced in March 2012.
