In a ceremony held in conjunction with the annual Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium in San Diego California last month, the department handed out the Phoenix Award for Maintenance Excellence to the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Maintenance Group.
The award honored the Japan-based group for undertaking superior aircraft and munitions maintenance for 80 aircraft at Kadena Air Base. On top of this, the DoD credited them with providing air interdiction, combat search and rescue, aerial refueling, aeromedical evacuation, and command and control battle management capabilities that helped national interests in the Indo-Pacific.
The award honors the best field-level maintenance units on a yearly basis. In this case, the department pointed most notably to the group’s supporting role and safety help during the highest-ranking congressional delegation to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Total, they generated 7,601 sorties and 17,600 flight hours for Kadena’s fleet of F-15C, F-15D, KC-135, HH-60, and E-3 aircraft.
Kadena currently hosts the only active-duty Air Force base-level Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory and an engine centralized repair facility, which the 18th Maintenance Group used to conduct intermediate-level maintenance, engine maintenance and test equipment calibration for the whole region.