RICHMOND, Va. –
The Virginia National Guard’s 192nd Wing is one of 14 Air National Guard units to receive the 2022 Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award, according to an announcement made April 4, 2024, by Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh, Director of the Air National Guard at National Guard Bureau.
“Congratulations to the men and women of the 192nd Wing for earning the 2022 Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award,” said Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the Adjutant General of Virginia. “The award recognizes their outstanding performance of duty in the most challenging mission environments made possible by their outstanding skill, expertise and dedication. They should all feel a great sense of accomplishment for hard work, and they continue to demonstrate they are an invaluable asset at both the state and national level.”
The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award was authorized by Department of the Air Force General Order 1, Jan. 6, 1954, and was renamed the Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award by the Secretary of the Air Force Nov. 16, 2020.
“There is no group more deserving of this prestigious award than the men and women assigned to the 192nd Wing,” said Brig. Gen. Catherine Jumper, commander of the Virginia Air National Guard. “These Citizen Airmen represent the very best of our Nation and the Commonwealth, and I am proud to serve alongside them in the Virginia Air National Guard.”
According to the Air Force Personnel Center web site, the ASOUA “is awarded by the Secretary of the Air Force to numbered units that have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service or outstanding achievement that clearly sets the unit above and apart from similar units.” The service includes performance of exceptionally meritorious service, accomplishment of a specific outstanding achievement of national or international significance, combat operations against an armed enemy of the United States, or military operations involving conflict with or exposure to hostile actions by an opposing foreign force.
“The 192nd Wing and its subordinate organizations qualified for the ASOUA by making truly significant contributions, which enhanced the Department of Defense and the Air Force’s ability to optimally perform their peacetime and wartime missions,” wrote Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, then serving as the Adjutant General of Virginia, in the nomination memo dated April 27, 2023. “The 192nd Wing is a premier organization supporting worldwide missions with Total Force Airmen integrated across three major commands.”
The award citation highlighted the following accomplishments for the 192nd Wing for the period Jan. 1, 2021, to Dec. 31, 2022.
The 192nd Wing responded to a no-notice Secretary of Defense tasking and deployed 305 Airmen, generated twenty aircraft with an 80 percent mission capable rate and packed 320 tons of cargo, leading to 310 successful combat sorties that shielded the United Arab Emirates from Houthi missile and drone attacks while restoring peace to 10 million civilians.
The 192nd Wing revolutionized F-22 agile combat employment initiative by creating cockpit-stowable ladders and chocks resulting in the wing being selected as the number one project to receive innovation funds by ARCWERX for the fiscal year enabling improved force element agility for the F-22.
The 192nd Wing planned and executed 2022 capstone exercise Sentry Savanah with eight F-22s, four T-38s, 174 personnel and a $244K execution budget where 192nd Wing operators and maintenance personnel flew 102 advanced threat sorties in support of global readiness versus a near-peer adversary leading to 76 multi-capable Airman-qualified tasks.
The 192nd Wing also deployed 91 Airmen with sixteen different Air Force skill codes to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, completing eleven million in construction projects with no mission delays.
The ASOUA ribbon has a narrow red stripe, flanked by a thin white stripe, a wide blue stripe, a thin white stripe, edged with a narrow red stripe, and multiple awards are represented with an oak leaf cluster.
The 192nd Wing previously received of the AFOUA during the following periods: Jan. 1, 1985 to Mar 31, 1986; Aug. 16, 1994 to Aug. 15, 1996; Aug. 16, 1996 to April 30, 1998; Oct. 1, 2013 to Sep. 30, 2014; Oct. 1, 2014 to Sep. 30, 2016 and Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2020.
Full list of 192nd Wing subordinate units receiving the award:
192nd Operations Group
149th Fighter Squadron
192nd Operation Support Squadron
185th Cyberspace Operations Squadron
192nd Intelligence Squadron
200th Weather Flight
192nd Maintenance Group
192nd Maintenance Squadron
192nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
192nd Maintenance Operations Flight
192nd Medical Group
192nd Medical Group Detachment 1
192nd Mission Support Group
192nd Supply Chain Management Squadron
192nd Security Forces Squadron
192nd Support Squadron
192nd Student Flight
203rd Red Horse Squadron
192nd Comptroller Flight
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