Niagara wins CINC’s Installation Excellence Award Nomination

Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station received the 2006 Commander-In-Chief’s Installation Excellence Award, AFRC Nomination, beating out two other Air Force Reserve Command bases for top honors. The Commander In Chief’s Annual Award for Installation Excellence recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations.

The creation of the nomination package for the award was primarily the effort of 1st Lt. Ken Enser, 914th Mission Support Group, Executive Officer. However, he said the content of the award nomination was a collective effort.

“It’s a real testament to how cooperative everyone was in getting the information necessary,” said Lt. Enser. “People were very accommodating in getting me bullet information for the nomination.”

Lieutenant Enser began the nomination process in September and through a series of working group sessions and input from squadron commanders, reservists, civilian employees, contractors, and 107th Air Refueling Wing personnel.

The award nomination contained a variety of support material which covered a
variety of areas such as improvements to the installation’s work environment, quality of life, work force productivity, and environmental safety and compliance.

One area of productivity which stood out in the nomination was Niagara’s 92 percent
career retention rate and 90 percent first term retention rates which are 25 percent above AFRC goals. In addition, it was noted that Niagara’s effective manning rate consistently exceeds 100 percent.

Niagara’s kind heart was also noted in the nomination by spotlighting $12,000 worth of food, clothing, toys and gift cards donations during the annual holiday “adopt a family program”. In addition, it was highlighted that Niagara is the number one supporter of the U.S. Postal Service canned food drive, with 875.75 tons of food donations.

As well as Niagara’s volunteer spirit, the award also recognized concrete savings achieved through initiatives like a 20 percent real property alignment where 130,000 underutilized square feet of base infrastructure was removed which resulted in more efficient and less costly operations while eliminating waste and dramatically reducing utility and maintenance costs.

Niagara’s Family Support center was also highlighted in the nomination by recognizing the two consecutive years it has been awarded the AFRC Outstanding Family Support of the Year.

This is not the first time Niagara has won the CINC’s Installation Excellence Award nomination. The base received the honor as a previous recipient.