927th Air Refueling Wing is "Mission Ready" Published June 15, 2009 By Capt. Shane Huff 927th ARW/PA MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 927th Air Refueling Wing is truly "The Premier Wing", especially when it comes to performance, mission planning, continuation training, unit training and standardization. An inspection team from Headquarters, Air Mobility Command conducted an Aircrew Standardization/Evaluation Visit (ASEV) of the 927th ARW in conjunction with the 6th AMW on 8-15 June. This evaluation was a comprehensive inspection of aircrew training support, training and standardization and evaluation programs at the operations group and squadron levels. "I was very impressed, you all did an outstanding job. This was a superb team effort. This group is mission ready and I would go to war with them in a minute," said Col. Michael Fernandez, inspection team chief. "This was a superb ASEV. You hit a home run!" Areas specifically inspected and graded were special interest items, aircrew standardization/evaluation, training, tactics, and aircrew performance. The overall assessment was "mission ready." Of the graded areas an overall "excellent" was given for aircrew performance with an "outstanding" for examinations. Continuation training, mission planning, deployment, and execution, and unit training were all rated "excellent." "I think superb is an understatement. It is phenomenal what has been accomplished over the past year. This is the best group of folks I have seen put programs together like this," said Col. Kenneth D. Lewis, Jr., 927th Air Refueling Wing commander, addressing those in attendance at the ASEV out brief. "It confirms that we are headed in the right direction. Now that we are mission ready, our next focus is on mobilization and deployment." Col. Doug Schwartz, 927th Operations Group commander, applauded the work of his team and thanked them for their outstanding support in helping to achieve such incredible results. "This was an outstanding effort by a staff that is 70% manned. It takes the support of the entire wing, both active and reserve, to achieve these results. Maintenance did an outstanding job providing us with great jets for our check rides. I am also very proud of the ASEV team's comments highlighting the tremendous integration between our active duty mission partners and our reserve members." Given that the 927th has been stood up for less than a year the following results are quite impressive. Testing results include 63rd Air Refueling Squadron pilots 99%, boom operators 99%, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron 97%. As a further indication of the outstanding performance of the aircrews, 17% of the flight evaluations were graded exceptionally qualified, far surpassing the mark of 10% which is considered outstanding. At the conclusion of the ASEV out brief Col. Fernandez presented certificates to the following individuals: Outstanding Airmanship Maj. Young Kim, 63rd Air Refueling Squadron Maj. Erin Schwartz, 927th Operations Group Capt. Michael Kirkner, 63rd Air Refueling Squadron Master Sgt. John Pullen, 927th Operations Group Tech. Sgt. Trevor Halpain, 63rd Air Refueling Squadron Outstanding Performer Maj. Danny Menashi, 63rd Air Refueling Squadron Maj. Erin Schwartz, 927th Operations Group Capt. Kathleen Horne, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Master Sgt. Heather De La Cruz, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Tech. Sgt. Jerry Barber, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron; Staff Sgt. Gary Taiclet, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Mr. Richard Halloran, 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Special recognition was given to Capt. Zachary Davidson, 63rd Air Refueling Squadron, for outstanding support. "The best support I have seen in 2 1/2 years on the inspection team," said Col. Fernandez.