Dover airfield ops best in AMC

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
Dover Air Force Base recently set the bar for the rest of Air Mobility Command during the 2007 Air Traffic System Evaluation Program inspection Sept. 24 through 28.

The ATSEP inspection was a validation of Team Dover's complete operations air-traffic capability, which evaluated the total air traffic system for safety, compatibility and adequacy.

The ATSEP inspection is normally performed every two years and is graded in a percentage rating. In 2005, Dover AFB scored 91 percent, said Col. Eric Wydra, 436th Airlift Wing vice commander. Still, this year Dover stepped it up a few more notches and scored 97 percent.

"Team Dover stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam!" he said.

The praises were shared by the inspectors from AMC.

"Dover has the best (communication) squadron support he'd seen in Air Mobility Command," said Col. William Malec, AMC inspector and chief of inspection team.

As the AMC inspection team scoured Team Dover's airfield operations, aggressively searching for any infraction, operations on the Dover flightline continued as normal with 11 C-5 departures, five C-17 departures, 35 AMC missions, handling more than 1,500 tons of cargo and moving nearly 300 passengers.

Praising the seamless coordination of information between the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron, 436th Communication Squadron and 436th Operations Group, Lt. Col. John Capobianco, 436th OG assistant deputy commander, said, "The boss (Col. Merril Alligood, 436th OG commander) was very pleased with the joint performance of all units involved. The bottom line is ... Team Dover did a fantastic job!"

During the inspection out-brief, the AMC inspection team lauded Team Dover for their outstanding efforts. Several programs were benchmarked, and several Airmen were praised for their outstanding performance.

"Since joining the Air Force in 1985, I can't remember any inspection out-brief where I heard the words benchmark, outstanding, and top performer said as many times," said Colonel Wydra. "The Airmen involved literally knocked the socks off the inspection team."
Team Dover's outstanding performers were:

Airman Jamiel Girardi
Airman 1st Class Rory Sullivan
Senior Airman John Clement
Senior Airman Noah Rendon
Senior Airman Robert Duray
Senior Airman Adam Smith
Staff Sgt. Marlana Sokolovich
Staff Sgt. Brian Lawrence
Staff Sgt. Aaron Boyle
Staff Sgt. Jon Green
Tech. Sgt. David West
Airfield-systems team