Housing Flight named best in Air Force Published March 19, 2008 By Valerie Mullett 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- For the fifth time in six years, the 341st Civil Engineer Squadron Housing Flight has been awarded the Brig. Gen. McAuliffe Award for being the best in Air Force Space Command and for the first time, has captured the same award at the Air Force level. They were Air Force-level runner-up in 2002. "I felt very good about our accomplishments this year," said Dottie Golightly, 341st CES Housing Flight Chief. "A team from AFSPC actually came here and went through us with a fine-tooth comb. They saw all aspects of our operation, including our warehouse, and were extremely impressed with what they saw. They said our dormitories were second to none." Some of the accomplishments that helped them achieve the award for 2007 included substantial savings in housing maintenance funds; upgrades in quality of life projects such as completing the fencing in Matador Manor; and securing an inventory of more than $230,000 from potential theft or damage. Three dormitory day rooms were also upgraded and many in-house accomplishments added significantly to quality of life. While the housing construction was underway and continuing to move forward, the staff relocated more than 100 families with none being forced to move off base. Staff members surveyed more than 500 rental properties to correctly maximize basic allowance for housing (BAH) rates of those members choosing to live downtown. The housing flight team created detailed drawings with instructions for approved self-help projects that made final inspection of these projects very easy. "While we get to claim the trophy, this award is really a total [341st] CES award," Mrs. Golightly said. "The Engineering Flight designs and inspects our projects, the Operations Flight maintains our infrastructure, the Resources Flight makes sure we always have what we need and the Fire Protection Flight keeps our residents safe. It really is a total team effort." Mrs. Golightly is especially proud of her dormitory management team who have been faced with being down in their manning numbers and still able to maintain their standard of excellence. "I am truly blessed to have such a group of staff members who are so dedicated to providing customer satisfaction," she said. "The dorm managers and the housing staff are some of the best we've had." "This has really been a collaborative effort by everyone in the squadron," said Larry Boggs, Housing MEO Manager. "That effort is what has allowed us to shine."