Keeping fit pays off for three USAFE wings

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts
  • U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) --  Keeping fit as a fiddle proved harmonious to the tune of $150,000 July 27 for three USAFE wings.

Lt. Gen. Rod Bishop, U.S. Air Forces in Europe vice commander, presented checks for $50,000 each to Col. Blake Lindner, commander of the 501st Combat Support Wing at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England; to Col. Earl Matthews, commander of the 38th Combat Support Wing at Vogelweh Air Base, Germany; and to Col. Robert Winston, commander of the 65th Air Base Wing at Lajes Field, Azores.

The three wings were the first to claim the top prizes of the USAFE-wide wing fitness competition announced by Gen. Tom Hobbins, USAFE commander, during the spring commanders’ conference. The competition is sponsored by the USAFE vice commander.

The FitWing Challenge rewards wings excelling in fitness over a six-month period. Award money goes toward fitness program and facility improvements and equipment purchases. The competition consists of four categories: Fitness Excellence; Fitness Readiness; Most Improved Fitness Excellence and Most Improved Fitness Readiness.

The 501st CSW won the Fitness Excellence category as the wing with the highest percentage of Airmen with “excellent” fitness test scores determined by calculating average weekly excellent percentages. The 501st scored big with a 22.38 percentage, followed by 65th ABW with 22.13 percent, and the 86th Airlift Wing from Ramstein with 21.84 percent.

The 501st started the year in 7th place among the USAFE wings but charged through for five months taking over first place in late May. Once they had it, they were repeatedly challenged by the 86th Airlift Wing and the 65th ABW, but managed to hold on to the lead until the end.

The 38th CSW won the Fitness Readiness category as the wing with the highest percentage of Airmen with fitness scores of “good” or “excellent” determined by calculating the average weekly “readiness” percentages. The 38th CSW won with a percentage of 97.40, followed by the 39th Air Base Wing from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, with a 96.77 percentage, and the 48th Fighter Wing from RAF Lakenheath, England, with a 96.63 percentage.

The 38th CSW can lay claim to maintaining a first-place position since the beginning of the contest period. Although continuously threatened by the 39th ABW and 48th FW --often keeping their lead by less than two-tenths of a percentage point -- they held strong through to the finish and claimed their prize.

The 65th ABW won both the Most Improved Fitness Excellence and Most Improved Fitness Readiness categories as the wing with the most improved rate of “fitness excellence” and “fitness readiness” determined by calculating the difference in percentages derived from the first and last data pulls in the contest period. The 65th ABW achieved a 7.01 increase in percentage for fitness excellence, and a 2.23 percent increase in fitness readiness.

Second place went to the 501st CSW with 6.86 percent and 1.28 percent respectively; and third place was shared by the 39th ABW with a 4.32 percentage for improved fitness excellence, and the 38th CSW with a 1.08 percent increase for improved fitness readiness.

In a Cinderella story, the 65th ABW was in last place for “Excellence Rate” improvement in February. In spite of their starting deficit, they completed a steady climb into first place in a hotly contested battle with the leading contender, the 501st CSW. In sharp contrast, the “Ready Rate” improvement was a study in flip-flops and fateful turnabouts with five wings jockeying for position over six months until the 65th ABW finally edged out all other challengers.

For more information about FitWing, visit the USAFE Fitness Web site at www.usafefitness.org/