Wing maintenance officer receives award

  • Published
  • By Lt Col. Rich Curry
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Oklahoma --  Major Michael von Buelow, a maintenance officer with the 507th Air Refueling Wing, 507th Maintenance Group was recognized this week as the best field grade maintenance officer in 4th Air Force winning at that level the Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Outstanding Aircraft Maintenance Field Grade Manager Award.

He now goes on to compete at the Air Force Reserve Command level.

During an assembly in the wing's main hangar Major Von Buelow was presented a plaque recognizing his selection. "Major Von Buelow is truly a stellar maintenance officer. He is dedicated to the mission, his troops and the wing's association with the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 137th Maintenance Group and its aircraft maintainers. We are all extremely elated he was chosen to receive this prestigious award. He certainly earned it," said Colonel Clay Bunting, 507th Maintenance Group commander.

According to Major von Buelow's nomination package he demonstrated outstanding maintenance prowess throughout the year as a primary enabler for the wing record setting year of accomplishing 1,275 sorties and 4,591 total flying hours that supported 1,495 air refueling receivers. Those mission totals included 14.5 million pounds of fuel offloaded and included 491,000 pounds of cargo transported.

His management of the wing's half-century-old aircraft coupled with his organizational and leadership abilities garnered two unit firsts, one by meeting the command's 71 percent Mission Capability standard for all four quarters and the other by meeting the Air Force's 85 percent Mission Capability standard for two quarters. In spite of a 200 plus annual flying hour increase he led the maintenance team to a mission capability rate 5 percent higher than the previous year while lowering non mission capable and aircraft parts cannibalization rates.

While flawlessly supporting multiple major exercises and deployments his squadron also accomplished significant milestones. His organization was the first in the command to be fully compliant with the Air Force's Crash Disabled Damaged Aircraft Recovery program. During the recent Logistics Compliance Assessment Program the maintenance group demonstrated phenomenal success by receiving the first AFRC "Outstanding" rating. Major von Buelow's staunch supervisor efforts also led to a finding of zero safety or technical order violations reported.

His squadron embraced "green" initiatives and environmentally-friendly policies by reducing the use of harsh chemicals. Their hazardous communication training program was cited as a "best practice" by the Tinker AFB environmental team for their outstanding chemical storage practices. Additionally his team dedicated 150-plus man hours in support of 18 Oklahoma City Air Logistics Command verifications which generated enhancements Air Force-wide for the entire KC-135 fleet.

Also his superior support to synchronize joint Reserve and Air National Guard training efforts resulted in the combination of ANG and AFRC Mission essential task lists to help blaze an essential roadmap for Total Force Integration efforts AF-wide.