Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld today announced that the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise is the 2002 winner of the Phoenix Trophy, recognizing it as the best of the Department of Defense's field-level maintenance units. The presentation was made last night during an awards banquet held in conjunction with the 2002 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Reno, Nev.
The Phoenix Trophy was presented to crewmembers of the Big "E", the world's first nuclear-powered carrier, by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for logistics and materiel readiness Diane K. Morales and Air Force Lt. Gen. Paul Hester, commander, U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command. The Enterprise was recognized for recovering more than 14,000 aircraft during operations Southern Watch and Enduring Freedom without a single flight missed due to equipment failure or unavailability.
Other units receiving Secretary of Defense Awards in recognition of outstanding achievements in military equipment and weapon system maintenance were: Small Category-A Company, 201st Forward Support Battalion, Vilseck, Germany, Army; 510th Fighter Squadron, Aviano Air Base, Italy, Air Force; Medium Category-9th Engineer Support Battalion, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Marine Corps; 18th Maintenance Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, Air Force; Large Category-354th Fighter Wing, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Air Force.
