Ramstein wins 2019 CINC award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jennifer Gonzales
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

The Department of Defense announced on May 31 that Ramstein Air Base won the 2019 Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence.

Established in 1985, the CINC Award for Installation Excellence recognizes the creative and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations.

“On behalf of the men and women of the 86th Airlift Wing and all those at Ramstein Air Base, we are humbled by this award,” said Brig. Gen. Mark R. August, 86th AW commander.

A CINC selection board visited Ramstein in January to evaluate base operations and gain an understanding of the Airmen who not only make the mission happen but excel at doing so.

“Our Airmen, our families, and our community work hard to make Ramstein Air Base a special place to live and work, and it’s the best installation in the world,” said August. “This tremendous accomplishment further proves we are truly the World’s Best Wing, and we couldn’t be more proud.”

The selection board visited units across the 86th AW, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing, and other tenant units to see how well Ramstein Airmen achieved the Air Force’s objectives in several areas of installation management, including mission support, energy conservation, quality of life and unit morale, environmental stewardship, real property management, safety, health and security, communications and public relations.

This is the second time Ramstein has won the award, the first time being in 2006. The base will receive a commemorative trophy and flag as well as a congratulatory letter from the president.

The base will also receive up to $700,000 that is planned to be used for further quality of life and installation management initiatives. The command team took solicitations from the community to get ideas on what the money should be used for.

Along with Ramstein, four other four other military installations were awarded the CINC Installation Excellence award for being the best in their service:

-U.S. Army Garrison Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, Fort Stewart, Georgia

-Naval Base San Diego, California

-Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms, California

-DLA Distribution Susquehanna, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania