F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- Air Force Global Strike Command has named the 320th Missile Squadron the General Samuel C. Phillips overall best Missile Squadron for 2018.
From 1959 to 1963, Phillips directed the Minuteman III ICBM program under Air Force Research and Development Command. Phillips has had a large impact within the ICBM career field, with many of the processes he created still in place to the present day.
“General Phillips was the tycoon of Minuteman ICBM development,” said 1st Lt. Allison Riffle, 320th Missile Squadron combat crew commander. “To earn an award with such an influential person’s name attached to it, shows what kind of work and effort has to go in to receive this recognition.”
The Phillips award cycle runs from the first day of the calendar year to the last, requiring year around effort and commitment to excellence.
“We are competing against all other ICBM operators in Global Strike,” said Capt. Emily Gill 320th Missile Squadron flight commander. “There are deserving people in every squadron, which speaks to effort the squadron, as a whole, has to put in to beat out the people who were also doing really awesome stuff this past year.”
The Phillips award has made its way through several Missile Squadrons within Air Force Global Strike Command, and has returned to the home town of its namesake, Cheyenne, Wyo., several times.
“General Samuel C. Phillips was a Cheyenne native and graduate of the University of Wyoming, so in a way, the trophy has come home,” said Lt. Col. George Chapman, 320th MS commander. ‘In the last 25 years, the 320 MS has earned the trophy five times, making operational excellence a part of our heritage.”