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301st “Bubbas” score fourth consecutive maintenance award
By MSgt. Douglas Harrison
301st IS
Misawa Air Base, Japan
The 301st Intelligence Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan, proudly claims the best large unit maintenance team in the command.
The Mission Systems Maintenance Team, led by Maj. Reginald Adams, recently received its fourth consecutive Air Intelligence Agency Large Unit Maintenance Effectiveness Award, recognizing its outstanding management of their resources. The question everyone asks is, “How do they do it?”
Adams touts the dedication and teamwork of the “Bubbas,” (that’s what he likes to call his troops) as the driving force behind the success in consistently winning this award.
“The competition for this award is tough. We competed against several strong units in AIA,” said Adams. “We are fortunate to have some of the best technicians in the Air Force, and senior NCOs who step up and lead them through every challenge. It’s the hard work and dedication of our people working together as a team that makes the difference.”
Winning at the command level is an apt reflection of the successful job this maintenance team accomplished, ensuring the mission of the 301st IS was met while overcoming a variety of hurdles.
The maintenance team provides 24-hour mission support to the 301st IS, the Misawa Cryptologic Operations Center, AIA, Pacific-theater, national-level and allied-nation intelligence customers worldwide.
The team consists of 118 military and 14 civilian personnel and is responsible for hardware and software engineering including installing, maintaining and developing enhancements for 103 mission systems valued at $86 million.
In addition, the “Bubbas” are responsible for a $1.4 million Satellite Systems Engineering Services contract, and an eight-member Centralized Antenna Team maintains 554 AIA-owned antennas throughout the Pacific.
The systems they maintain are part of the United States’ worldwide communications network, providing secure command, control, communications and countermeasures support and rapid radio relay to U.S. and allied forces.
The team began its year with a Mission Effectiveness Inspection by the AIA and National Security Agency Inspector General teams, achieving an “excellent” overall rating.
Not willing to rest on past success, they looked forward to finding ways to improve their customer support.
One major improvement was the Logistics Division’s merger with the Site Technical Center (software maintenance), Navy maintenance, and Project Support to provide a synergistic approach to maintenance. This merger paid off with great results.
The team completed 14 major Technical Support Squadron Engineering and Installation projects, 16 large self-help projects and 20 National Security Agency projects that included installing, removing and modifying more than $4.5 million in equipment.
More than one third of the maintenance personnel were TDY at some point during the year. More than 3,270 man-days were spent deployed to Operation Southern Watch to provide manning assists, maintain antennas throughout the Pacific theater and support other mission requirements. Despite the high TDY tempo, the team continued to provide superior support to the Misawa Cryptologic Operations Center mission.
The technicians cleared 2,750 equipment outages and performed 4,000 preventative maintenance inspections. On-call technicians responded to 97 after-hours trouble calls with an average response time of 22.5 minutes. The maintenance and response times resulted in an incredible 99.9 percent systems availability rate with only two of 103 systems below 98 percent.
The 301st Maintenance Team gave operators the tools needed to produce top-notch intelligence products needed to provide immediate and precise information essential for the warfighter to attain dominant battlefield awareness. The high availability rate of the systems helped the site receive kudos from intelligence customers at the highest levels, and contributed to the intelligence products being used to brief every level of national leadership from the President on down.
This level of performance is business as usual for the “Bubbas.” The 301st’s emphasis on people programs is key to keeping both performance and morale high.
“People programs are paramount. You’ve got to take care of the troops and their families. This makes sure they can concentrate on getting the job done. They also realize their efforts have not gone unnoticed,” said Adams.
The unit has strong quarterly and annual recognition programs, but it doesn’t stop there. Quarterly hail and farewells give members the opportunity to welcome new folks and their families, and recognize the contributions of those leaving.
The unit promotes fitness and team spirit with friendly competitions on monthly fitness days.
The booster club sponsors annual events like skiing and camping trips, picnics and adult and children’s Easter parties. These events give members and families a chance to interact and build friendships that enhance team spirit throughout the unit.
The 301st also has family support programs including the spouse support program to assist families of deployed personnel. The program ensures that unit members make weekly contact with these families and provide different types of assistance for housing or car problems, emergency leave and even baby-sitting.
The spouse recognition program salutes those spouses who give their time and effort to make our quality of life better. The unit presents certificates of appreciation to organizers of the children’s Christmas party, Easter egg hunt, and other activities.
The men and women of the 301st IS Mission Systems Maintenance Team are true professionals. They have overcome many difficult challenges and achieved superior results. Their people have earned more than 30 individual awards at the squadron, group, wing, and command level. This Maintenance Effectiveness Award highlights the many successes of the best maintenance team in the command.
