Command nominates Tinker for excellence Published Dec. 5, 2008 By Micah Garbarino Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Tinker has been selected by the Air Force Materiel Command to compete for the 2009 Commander-in-Chief's Annual Awards for Installation Excellence. Team Tinker will now compete against other commands' nominees for the award. A board will review the nominations and select two finalists. Once that happens, the finalists will be visited by an Air Force selection committee who will choose which base represents the service in the final stage. A message from the command after the selection stated Tinker's nomination "clearly captured their commitment to continuous improvement and relentless pursuit of excellence that has created an environment that promotes innovative and creative ways of enhancing base-level services, facilities, and quality-of-life." The nomination focused on several areas that included accomplishments from Tinker units across agency, MAJCOM and even service boundaries. "Tinker's selection for this award is due to the hard work and dedication of our entire team -- Air Force, Navy, Reserve and Guard members, civilians and contractors," said Col. Mona Lisa Tucker, 72nd Air Base Wing vice commander. "This shows how the commitment, productivity and creativity of each team member is behind our drive for excellence in mission execution, services, facilities and quality of life." "This truly is an entire installation award," said Lt. Col. Kyle Ingham, deputy commander of the 72nd Mission Support Group, who led a team of five people that put together the nomination. The areas of consideration were: · Improving installation work environment/physical plant · Installation quality of life · Enhanced productivity of installation work force · Increased customer satisfaction/improved service · Encouraged bottom to top communication and team problem solving · Promoted unit cohesiveness and recognized outstanding individual effort · Energy conservation, environmental safety, compliance, remediation and stewardship The nomination-writing team went to all the units on the installation and requested bullet statements that demonstrated accomplishment in these areas. "It was difficult for the team to sift through the statements, deciding what to include, where to include it and how best to word the 'bazillion' accomplishments across the installation," said Colonel Ingham. The task was a lot harder than they thought it would be, but for Colonel Ingham, it was an eye-opening experience. "It was amazing to see how much goes on across the installation that most people have no idea about. Not only that, but they are very successful at it. You step back and go 'Wow, as Team Tinker, we are really doing incredibly well,'" said Colonel Ingham. The thing that really stood out in Tinker's nomination, Colonel Ingham said, was how well the base is doing working with an aging infrastructure, and making wise choices with the resources available to ensure units are "mission successful." Also, the advancement here of the Air Force Smart Operation for the 21st Century and Lean initiatives served the base well, he said. "We are focused on spending less money and time on a project, providing parts or service to the warfighter, cheaper and faster without compromising quality," said Colonel Ingham.