Among the 50th CES’s achievements of the past two years were a complete rewrite of its Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan to capture new data and best practices. The base’s cultural resources team also implemented a new Installation Tribal Relations Plan and established strong working relationships with Native American Tribes and the State of Colorado. For the first time in nearly 30 years, walking surveys of the entire installation for archaeological and architectural resources were conducted, discovering dozens of new sites and artifacts from both historic and prehistoric eras. These initiatives enabled the Cultural Resources Program team to remain compliant with the National Historic Preservation Act as Schriever AFB undergoes rapid development and construction.

Among the 20^th CES environmental restoration program’s achievements of the past two years were the unprecedented execution of over $59M in environmental remediation contracts, including 3 performance based remediation contracts and a six-year optimized remediation contract.  The environmental restoration team also executed an Expanded Site Inspection and awarded a contract for a Remedial Investigation to evaluate the nature and extent of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) releases associated with legacy operations and training activities.  The team also utilized innovative environmental cleanup technologies to target hard-to-reach contaminant hot spots and significantly shrink the size of contaminated groundwater plumes, including the use of ozone/atmospheric air-generating trailers for the treatment of solvent contaminated soils and groundwater, and drilling a 2000 ft long 65 ft deep treatment line under restricted portions of the airfield without impacting flight operations.   These and other actions demonstrate that an effective environmental restoration program is not incompatible with the mission.

As the cultural resources manager for the 45^th Space Wing at Patrick AFB, Mr. Penders is responsible for over 500 cultural resources, including prehistoric and historical archaeological sites, missile sites, launch complexes, the Man in Space National Historic Landmark (NHL) District, World War II resources, cemeteries, a lighthouse, and historic missiles.  Among his achievements of the past two years are: the in-house development of the 45th Space Wing’s Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan (ICRMP) and completion of the 5-year ICRMP update, actions that avoided $85,000 in contract costs; obtaining approval from the Florida State Historic Preservation Office for laser scanning as an improved technique for Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) recordation; initiation of a six-year program to conduct high definition three-dimensional laser scanning of six NHL launch complexes and launch-related facilities slated for demolition or reuse;  and maintaining on-going dialogues and consultation with the National Park Service, NASA, federal and state historic preservation offices, federally recognized tribal governments, and other cultural resources stakeholders.  These and other actions directly support the 45^th Space Wing’s long term development plan, and planned and future launch operations. 

Among the 374^th CES environmental element achievements of the past two years were conducting 174 environmental inspections in FY20 that identified and corrected 17 of 19 discrepancies and increased Yokota ABs environmental compliance status by 90%, and working with the base Inspector General (IG) office to coordinate inspections in concert with other base-wide programs, resulting in fewer shop interruptions.  Other notable achievements include authoring the inaugural quarterly base bilingual hazardous materials newsletter as a means of educating military and civilian personnel on the hazardous materials/hazardous waste program, partnering with the United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka's Qualified Recycling Program (QRP) to reclaim 8.9 tons of scrap metal and 53 tons of batteries while avoiding $50K in disposal costs, and executing an in-house storm water re-engineering solution to clear a 128-mile drainage system to eliminate flooding and preventing pollutants from reaching the local community waterways.  By mitigating environmental impacts from 21 airfield improvement projects associated with the bed down of the high altitude, remotely piloted RQ-4 surveillance aircraft, the environmental element enhanced the ability of Yokota AB ability to collect mission essential intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.

Eglin AFB is home to 106 rare or endangered plant and animal species found in 34 distinct ecosystems.  Among the 96^th CEGs natural resources team achievements of the past two years were conducting 162 prescribed burns across 153,577 acres of land, leading DAF efforts in restoring fire to the endangered long leaf pine ecosystem.  Longleaf pine seedlings and saplings need full sunlight to thrive, and without fire, faster growing plants shade them out.  The team also artificially raised and released 1,048 critically-endangered reticulated flatwoods salamanders and repatriated 2 new habitats, the first ever such action for the species. The team also surveyed 4,250 acres of land and removed over 14,000 invasive exotic plants threatening high quality endangered species habitats, and generated $450K in revenue for threatened and endangered habitat restoration via the sustainable on-base harvest of palmetto berries.  These and other actions, such as protecting and relocating 101 sea turtle and 150 shorebird nests on 18 miles of Santa Rosa Island shoreline, demonstrate the important role the natural resources team plays in ensuring the continued use of Eglin AFB for military training and operations.    

Among the 509^th CES sustainability team achievements of the past two years were directing the conversion of the base qualified recycling program and authoring a 3 year $692K recycling services contract that not only cut overhead by $200K, but increased the amount of recycling program revenues received by the base by 50%.  Additionally, 350 tons of recyclable materials, 4700 gals of used oil, and 150 tons of metal were diverted from the solid waste stream waste, avoiding associated landfill disposal costs.  Other notable achievements include natural resource management activities that reduced Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) risks and enhanced flight safety, identifying deficiencies in the base’s air quality permits, and negotiating permit modifications that simplified compliance while sustaining aircraft maintenance and engine test cell capabilities, and managing the environmentally compliance decommissioning of 150 old Minuteman II missile silos and 14 launch control facilities.  By implementing enhancements to the base Environmental Management System and securing cross-functional team member and base leadership commitment, the sustainability team strengthened base-wide understanding not only of environmental requirements, but also individual and organizational responsibilities to minimize impacts that could negatively affect mission.

F-35 Joint Program Office, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

• Natural Resources Conservation, Large Installation: Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

• Environmental Quality, individual team: Mr. Frederick A. Javier, 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida
• Environmental Restoration, Installation: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
• Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition, Large Program: Combat Rescue Helicopter Program Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Team, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

• Sustainability, Non-Industrial Installation: Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
• Sustainability, Individual/Team: Mr. Jeffery D. Schone, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

• Environmental Quality, Individual/Team: Eglin Air Force Base Environmental Quality Team, Florida
• Environmental Restoration, Installation: Beale Air Force Base, California
• Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition, Large Program: KC-46 Program Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Team, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

• Environmental Quality, Industrial Installation Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
• Cultural Resources Management, Individual/Team, Dr. Paul R. Green, U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Virginia