412th OSS officer wins airfield operations award Published Feb. 25, 2009 By Master Sgt. Alan S. Williams 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command recently announced the results from its Annual Airfield Operations Awards and an Edwards Air Force Base officer was on the list of awardees. Capt. Valentine Maldonado III, 412th Operations Support Squadron Airfield Operations Flight commander was awarded the AFMC 2008 Col. Derrel L. Dempsey Officer of the Year award. His unit commander had nothing but high praises for the captain. "His leadership was absolutely critical during the $112M runway MILCON project, not only during the transition of all flight test operations to the temporary runway, but also during the construction and acceptance of the new main runway that will serve the Air Force Flight Test Center for the next 50 years," said Lt. Col. Jeffery Wharton, 412th OSS commander. Captain Maldonado was instrumental to the runway construction project which concluded in September 2008. As 412th Operations Group representative, he engineered the interim airfield operation instruction procedures, which significantly reduced the transition time to the temporary runway. Daily, the captain leads the largest flight in the 412th Operations Group with 45 military and civilian personnel. With support from his team, he manages $15 million in Air Force resources spanning 68 miles in land surfaces which includes three conventional airfields and 18 lakebed runways. In 2008 he oversaw an $800 thousand rubber removal project, a $500 thousand paint removal and restriping project as well as executed an operating budget of in excess of $240 thousand. He spearheaded support for more than 550 C-5, C-17 and C-135 sorties, resulting in a 10 percent increase in the maximum load for the C-17. Lauded as a masterful resource scheduler by Colonel Wharton, Captain Maldonado ensured airfield and air traffic control support was available for commercial aircraft testing for the B-737, the B-757 and the B-747LF which facilitated on-time testing and certification by affording commercial aircraft testing priority. He also maximized runway and airspace for National Aeronautics and Space Administration F-15 taxi tests, its sonic boom reduction program and space shuttle pilot training. A myriad of achievements were made by the captain in 2008 affecting numerous programs and functions here at Edwards and across the Air Force. He authored support agreements for NASA, Federal Aviation Administration and sister services. Captain Maldonado was also handpicked by the Air Force Flight Standards Agency to take part in re-writing Air Force Instruction 13-204 Functional Management of Airfield Operations and Air Force Manual 13-220 Deployment of Airfield Operations and is credited with making direct improvements to 25 percent of both publications. In addition his many accomplishments, the captain and his team also provided more than 280 after-hours requests for support despite being manned at only 66 percent, this support prevented critical mission interruptions. He's a top notch officer who understands what it takes to get the mission done, and is willing to do the work," said Master Sgt. Barry Satchel, assistant chief controller 412th OSS. "There's many a night when we've stayed late together to get the mission done. He leads by example, not by word." Captain Maldonado will go on to compete at the Air Force level.