910th Force Support Squadron brings home pair of command awards Published March 18, 2022 By Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- The 910th Force Support Squadron won the 2021 A1 (Manpower, Personnel and Services) Force Support Capabilities Sustainment Services Flight and Airman and Family Readiness Flight award. The A1 awards are annual Air Force Reserve Command level awards, competed for by approximately 44 force support squadrons. “Please join me in congratulating our force support squadron for their awards as the best Airman and family readiness flight and sustainment services flight in all AFRC,” said Col. Jeff Van Dootingh, commander of the 910th Airlift Wing. “Well done!” Sustainment Services Flight Award Nancy Rubino, the director of 910th Force Support Squadron’s Sustainment Services Flight, is coined by Maj. Gen. Bret Larson, commander of the 22nd Air Force, for helping the 910th FSS win the 2021 A1 (Manpower, Personnel and Services) Force Support Capabilities Sustainment Services Flight award, March 6, 2022, USO of Northern Ohio in the Fred Kubli Morale and Wellness Center at Youngstown Air Reserve Station. The A1 awards are annual Air Force Reserve Command level awards, competed for by approximately 44 Force Support Squadrons across the reserve command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Mary Ellen Davenport, a housekeeper with the 910th Force Support Squadron’s Eagle’s Nest Lodge, is coined by Maj. Gen. Bret Larson, commander of the 22nd Air Force, for helping the 910th FSS win the 2021 A1 (Manpower, Personnel and Services) Force Support Capabilities Sustainment Services Flight award, March 6, 2022, USO of Northern Ohio in the Fred Kubli Morale and Wellness Center at Youngstown Air Reserve Station. The A1 awards are annual Air Force Reserve Command level awards, competed for by approximately 44 Force Support Squadrons across the reserve command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res In 2021, the 910th SSF’s Eagle’s Nest Lodge team, with a limited housekeeping staff and adherence to COVID restrictions, accommodated approximately 22,323 room-nights. Notable guests included attendees of the Ohio National Guard Leadership Symposium and the Integrated Defense Leadership Course students and cadre members. The 910th SSF’s community activity center team developed and provided more than 28,000 innovative total force carryout meals to Reserve Citizen Airmen during the 910th AW’s unit training assemblies that fell under COVID’s restrictive period. They hosted distinguished visitors and special events including a luncheon with U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a U.S. Marine Corps birthday ball and a Flight Commander's Edge course. Together, the community activity center and the Eagles Nest Lodge made more than $1.8 million in revenue from lodging, food and beverages in 2021. Outdoor recreation, also under SSF, held and/or hosted a wide variety of esprit de corps events including skiing, golfing, kayaking, softball, ax throwing, corn hole, canoeing and trivia. These events helped more than 700 reservists build morale and teamwork skills with fellow Airmen. Lastly, the SSF conducted two innovative readiness training missions with the Army in Mississippi and Oklahoma building camps for children of disabled veterans and homes for Cherokee Nation veterans, respectively, and partnered with the Direct Link Summer Youth Program to provide work opportunities for participants with developmental disabilities, totaling 540 hours worked between the six participants over a five-week period. “Big congratulations to sustainment, cause they have won this award three out of five years,” said Lt. Col. Scott Julian, commander of the 910th Force Support Squadron. “Nancy (Rubino, director of 910th Force Support Squadron’s Sustainment Services Flight) and her team have done an outstanding job of still providing great quality of life elements to the base even with restrictions during this unconventional time.” Airman and Family Readiness Flight Award Jim Naughton, the director of the 910th Force Support Squadron’s Airman and Family Readiness flight, is coined by Maj. Gen. Bret Larson, commander of the 22nd Air Force, for helping the 910th FSS win the 2021 A1 (Manpower, Personnel and Services) Force Support Capabilities Airman and Family Readiness flight award, March 6, 2022, USO of Northern Ohio in the Fred Kubli Morale and Wellness Center on Youngstown Air Reserve Station. The A1 awards are annual Air Force Reserve Command level awards, competed for by approximately 44 Force Support Squadrons across the reserve command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Master Sgt. Renee Mihoci, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the 910th Force Support Squadron’s Airman and Family Readiness flight, is coined by Maj. Gen. Bret Larson, commander of the 22nd Air Force, for helping the 910th FSS win the 2021 A1 (Manpower, Personnel and Services) Force Support Capabilities Airman and Family Readiness flight award, March 6, 2022, USO of Northern Ohio in the Fred Kubli Morale and Wellness Center on Youngstown Air Reserve Station. The A1 awards are annual Air Force Reserve Command level awards, competed for by approximately 44 Force Support Squadrons across the reserve command. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res In 2021, the A&FR flight assisted Airmen with more than $33,000 in non-profit financial support, assembled donations to provide more than 450 meals to troops in need across Youngstown Air Reserve Station, collected over 600 pounds of winter clothes and coats in collaboration with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Winter Stand Down program and secured more than 30,000 back-to-school supplies and more than 40,000 toys for Airmen and their families through Operation HOMEFRONT. The A&FR flight conducted seven 'Lunch & Learn' classes meant to teach Airmen how to remain resilient, financially stable and physically/mentally fit. The A&FR flight briefed newcomers monthly on services offered at YARS, administered 23 résumé writing classes, assisted in writing more than 200 individual résumés and held two employment fairs resulting in seven newly-employed members. Finally, the 910th A&FR flight has continuously led AFRC in Veteran’s Opportunity to Work compliance since 2017 and ensured more than 36 members completed the transition assistance program in 2021. According to the Veterans' Employment and Training Service’s website, TAP provides information, tools and training to ensure service members and their spouses are prepared for the next step in civilian life. “Airman and Family Readiness went from honestly a barely know organization to a headquarters-level awarded team,” said Julian. “Mr. Naughton (Jim Naughton, director of the 910th Force Support Squadron’s Airman and Family Readiness flight) and his team have just completely turned this flight around from what it was four years ago. It was a constant rotation of directors who weren’t that strong and weren’t here very long. So we selected Jim here and almost immediately he made a difference. He hired the right people with the right passion to do the job.” The 910th A&FR flight and SSF will now, representing AFRC, be graded against the other nine major commands under the Air Force in the upcoming U.S. Air Force level awards. “Congratulations to all our AFRC winners,” said Col. Harold Linnean III, the director of AFRC/A1. “Wishing all of you great luck as we compete at the next level.”