Armament Systems Wing wins Air Force award Published June 19, 2006 By By Capt. Josie Stewart 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Being the number one provider of joint combat firepower to the entire Combat Air Force, the 308th Armament Systems Wing won the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for the period of Jan. 27, 2005 through March 17, 2006. Combined with the 308th Strategic Missile Wing May 15, and designated the 308th ARSW, the Air-to-Ground Munitions Systems Wing is the first acquisition wing ever to win the AFOUA, according to Col. Michael J. Guidry, 308th Armament Systems Wing vice wing director. “We’re just a piece of the puzzle that makes up Team Eglin,” Colonel Guidry said as he listed all the phases, from the development to deployment, weapons go through before getting to the warfighters. According to the colonel, the wing is responsible for $8 billion of hardware. “Because of precision, we can get smaller with our bombs, which enables us to have less collateral damage,” Colonel Guidry added. “Acquisitions” doesn’t always mean a lengthy process of “red tape,” Colonel Guidry said. According to the colonel, Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne was barely on the job when he changed his schedule in order to attend a briefing about adapting the Small Diameter Bomb to a Focused Lethality Munition here. “In order to assist with USCENTAF’s capability gap, the SECAF’s initiative enabled the wing to build a quick-reaction program to adapt SDB into FLM in only four weeks,” Colonel Guidry said as he described how quickly some things can happen. “Basically, it’s taking what you already have and modifying it for today’s environment,” he continued. Highlights during the award period: -- Produced Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom’s number one munition, three variations of the Joint Direct Attack Munition. -- Completed the F-22 and JDAM integration 12 months early, delivering the warfare’s first-ever supersonic air-to-ground weapons capability aircraft. -- Developed the Small Diameter Bomb in just 19 months, the fastest development initiative since World War II. -- Oversaw international sales to 15 countries, which empowered allied forces with precision weapons. -- Fielded the stealthy cruise missile, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.