Team Osan member part of best test team in AF

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Terri Barriere
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  A member of Team Osan, along with eight others from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., was recently chosen as the best of the best among test and evaluation teams in the Air Force. 

The A-10C Initial Operational Test & Evaluation Team from Nellis AFB was recently awarded the Air Force Association's 2008 Howard Leaf Award, recognizing them as the best Test and Evaluation team in the Air Force. 

According to Lt. Col. Mark Barrera, Test Director for the A-10C IOT&E test team at Nellis and the current 51st Fighter Wing Chief of Safety, the award was a real honor for the team members who spent years working on the project. 

"Operational test planning and execution takes a considerable amount of time and perseverance to overcome developmental challenges," he said. "However, it was even more rewarding to hear about the successful employment of the A-10C in combat and hear the pilots rave about its new capabilities. It was also rewarding to the team to see our test report and data used to develop weapons school papers for our pilots." 

According to the colonel, though the team took home the honor, it was the hard work of many individuals that allowed them to accomplish the mission. 

"The team came together because of the talent and hard work of the pilots, engineers and maintainers who wanted to ensure the A-10C succeeded for the Combat Air Force. Our test was also a culmination of the years of developmental testing by the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, which included Lt. Col. Charlie Wahl from the 25th Fighter Squadron. " 

Colonel Barrera said the engineers and pilots worked hard to maximize every sortie for test events, which resulted in zero ineffective sorties throughout the entire test. In addition, the test was completed ahead of schedule and $1.8 million under budget. 

"The test team developed and executed an extremely efficient test plan to meet Air Combat Command's requirements and timelines," he said. "We were undermanned compared to other major fighter operational tests, but we were able to successfully take lessons learned from our previous F-22 operational test and apply them to our plan." 

During the test, the team evaluated the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver, Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Situational Awareness Datalink, Sniper targeting pod and a Litening AT targeting pod. All were being tested to validate the upgrade capabilities for the A-10C. 

 
During the test execution and in the control room, Colonel Barrera was shocked at the upgraded combat capabilities of A-10C.
 
"Reading about the new avionics and datalinks is one thing, but to see the pilots and aircraft in action was pretty impressive. I've been waiting several years to fly it and I'm looking forward to our A-10C conversion next year."
 
The Howard Leaf Award is one of the many Air Force Association annual awards that honor the outstanding achievements throughout the United States Air Force, government, academia and the aerospace industry.
 
The members of the award winning AFOTEC team were: Lt. Col. Mark Barrera, Lt. Col. Daniel Runyon, Maj. Phong Nguyen, Capt. Brian Foo, Capt. Kiel Martin, Master Sgt. Jason Tullo, Master Sgt. Wendell Davis, Mr. Stuart Butts and Mr. Burtis Spencer.