[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 5801]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE

 Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, as you are aware, last Friday 
the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, announced the winners of the 
2010 Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence. 
Included on this prestigious list is Elmendorf Air Force Base in 
Anchorage, AK. This award recognizes the outstanding and innovative 
efforts of the brave men and women who operate and maintain our 
Nation's military installations. I would like to read the award 
citation for Elmendorf for the record.

       The men and women of Elmendorf Air Force Base distinguished 
     themselves by significantly improving the quality of life, 
     productivity, and work environment for over seventeen 
     thousand Arctic Warrior Airmen and their families. They did 
     this in part through the execution of the largest Military 
     Construction program in base history, an unprecedented 460 
     million dollars in construction. Directly contributing to 
     their success was the ability to obtain the lead contracting 
     authority for four projects, an Air Force first. Elmendorf 
     Air Force Base is also leading the way for the Air Force by 
     being the one and only wing to use Air Force Reserve Command 
     officers to fill active duty billets to leverage the 
     stability and experience of reserve personnel to realize a 
     true total force integration gain. They were also the first 
     to implement a new Veteran's Affairs itemized billing 
     process, increasing reimbursements by 20 percent, and 
     becoming a model for other Joint Venture sites. This 
     contributed to the hospital being named as the number one 
     hospital in the Air Force for the second year in a row. 
     Finally, through ceaseless efforts to protect natural 
     resources, Elmendorf was named as having Pacific Air Force's 
     number one environmental program, winning the coveted General 
     White Awards for natural resource conservation and pollution 
     prevention. The commitment to excellence demonstrated by the 
     men and women of Elmendorf Air Force Base reflects great 
     credit upon themselves and the United States Air Force.

  Congratulations to the men and women of Elmendorf Air Force Base as 
well as to the other winners of the coveted Commander-In-Chief's 
Installation Excellence Award.

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