Maintaining excellence one day at a time Published Feb. 21, 2008 By Senior Airman Eydie Sakura 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- The 341st Maintenance Group recently received the Maintenance Effectiveness Award for 2007 for showcasing superior missile maintenance from October 2006 to September 2007. The group's team of nearly 560 members displayed seamless integration of maintenance planning, training and daily maintenance, and demonstrated efficiency while simultaneously increasing maintenance operations tempo by 78 percent. "The maintainers in our group embrace the wing's philosophy of teamwork and outstanding people dedicated to the mission -- all on a foundation of strong leadership," said Lt. Col. David Lair, 341st MXG deputy commander. "Everyone in our group contributed to the award; our highly skilled technicians, civilians, NCOs, Senior NCOs and officers who guide, mentor and lead us to success every day." The deputy commander went on to say the Minuteman III weapon system is a critical strategic deterrent to any adversary, and the group could not field all of the upgrades, deactivate a squadron and keep the alert so high without the superior technical skills, leadership and teamwork the maintenance group exudes. "Our people continually strive to do their best and it shows with the quality of their work," he said. "The maintainers find ways to adapt and overcome, and in the process they become more innovative and efficient which ultimately leads to higher productivity." The 341st Missile Maintenance Squadron and the 341st Maintenance Operations Squadron kept eight command-leading critical missile system upgrades, totaling nearly $7 billion, ahead of schedule while contributing to workplace and community enhancement. "Our people spend a lot of time training and perfecting their skills on- and off-duty," Colonel Lair said. "Their pride in attaining technical knowledge and leadership development contributes significantly to our wing mission." Outstanding missile maintenance technician One member of the 341st MMXS received top honor as the recipient of the Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Award for the Outstanding Missile Maintenance Technician for 2007. Senior Airman Cami Gilbertson, a facilities maintenance technician, has been in the Air Force for three-and-a-half years and said she wanted to be a maintainer when she enlisted and wanted a job where she could get dirty and have fun doing it. "Being a facilities maintenance technician is a fairly difficult job," Airman Gilbertson said. "It involves a lot of trouble shooting, schematic reading and technical knowledge. There are a lot of good technicians in this career field who don't realize how good of a job they do at something so important." Airman Gilbertson led the preparation effort for the 2007 20th Air Force Missile Standardization, Evaluation and Training assessment by perfecting 1,500 tools. The inspectors found no major errors, recognized her as the only "professional performer" in the squadron and she directly contributed to the group's "excellent" rating. She completed 950 work orders, leading to a 99.7 percent work order completion rate while her repair actions on missile system support equipment saved the Air Force $535,000 and averted potential repairs. The Leo Marquez Award winner said she believes it's a great honor to win the award and that it's a difficult award to receive. "It is great that my leadership has noticed the work I have done and I am very appreciative of them putting my name in for the award," she said. "Although it may be a tedious job at times, everyone seems to work well together as a team to get 'cracking' and keep our sites in good shape."