375th FSS named best in AMC Published March 13, 2018 By Senior Airman Melissa Estevez 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Facility upgrades and program initiatives helped the 375th Force Support Squadron earn the Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Award for best large-category force support squadron in Air Mobility Command. “Our success is due to all the hard work from our team during the past year,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Elliott, 375th FSS commander. “We enable, develop, and revitalize our force through quality of life programs, education, training opportunities, human resource assistance and Airmen & family services … essentially, our job is to develop our human capital." In 2017, the 375th FSS re-invested $2 million dollars of Non-Appropriated Funds back into the wing that contributed to several renovations across the base. Renovations included modernizing the Golf Halfway House, Bowling Center, changing the layout of the Scott Library, converting the Student Union Cafe to Common Grounds, and improved the appearances of the Nightingale Inn Dining Facility and the Arts & Crafts Center. These renovations can have a direct impact on the ease of use and capabilities of the facilities. For instance, “all new furniture and shelving gives the library a modern look,” said Monica Luciano, Scott AFB Library director. “New signage makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for and movable furniture and shelving allows the library space to be transformed to accommodate any event.” Upcoming renovations for 2018-2019 include renovating the car wash and beautifying the Scott Lake. In addition to location renovations, the 375th FSS has been able to expand the services they can provide to the base. Additions to services that they provide include the addition of a new scoring system to the Stars and Strikes Bowling Center, adding the Alpha Warrior Battle Rig to the base gym, and opening the new Visitors' Quarters. In addition, they replaced every single piece of fitness equipment in both fitness centers. The 375th FSS has over 600 personnel, both military and civilian employees, and is the largest and most diverse squadron in the wing. They provide quality of life, personnel, manpower, education and other services to Team Scott members and their families. The mixture of civilian and military employees is vital to the success of the unit, according to Elliott. “Our civilian workforce is the backbone of our squadron because at any given point we have folks deployed taking care of the war-time mission,” said Elliott. The 375th FSS’s efforts to support Team Scott, such as leading and executing many of 2017’s Centennial Celebration events and developing a squadron commander and superintendent orientation course, showcase the dedication they have for the base and its community. Their hard work and dedication also led to them winning an additional seven team and individual awards. Elliott won the Lt. Gen. Norm Lezy Award for making outstanding contributions of significant concern to the installation. Brian Butler, as a senior civilian, won the Roger M. Blanchard Memorial Award for significantly improving the support of Airmen at every level. Lynda Lindsay won Civilian Technician Supervisor of the Year and Tracy Tinsley won Civilian Technician Non-Supervisor of the Year for their work throughout 2017. The Cardinal Creek Golf Course, Arts and Crafts Center, Stars and Strikes Bowling Alley, and the Outdoor Recreation Center won the Community Services Flight of the Year because of the improvements and changes to services they made. The Child Development Center, Youth Center, and Family Child Care team won Best Child and Youth Flight of the Year. Finally, the leadership team, front office team, and the offices directly supervised by the leadership team won the Best Commander’s Support Team award. “At the end of the day, our squadron is about taking care of you and providing that sense of community to you and your family,” said Elliott.