67th FS named six-time Raytheon Trophy winner

Published April 30, 2014
By Senior Airman Hailey Staker
18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 67th Fighter Squadron was awarded the Raytheon Trophy for 2013 at the Kadena Officer's Club April 18 by Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, U.S. Forces, Korea deputy commander and 7th Air Force commander, and Mark Kula, Raytheon Company Tactical Airborne Systems vice president.

However, 2013 marks a special year for both Kadena and the squadron. Not only has it won the Raytheon Trophy a total of six times, but between the 67th FS and the 44th Fighter Squadron, the Raytheon Trophy has stayed at Kadena three years in a row.

"This award is recognition of everything that you all do every single day," said Lt. Col. Bill Denham, 67th FS commander. "Everyone in this room contributes to what we do every day. I want to thank everyone that's here, especially to our maintainers, our intelligence (officers), our aircraft ground equipment (Airmen), and we think of this as a pure team effort."

In 2013, the 67th FS deployed 276 days of the year, provided air superiority across eight countries and two continents, and successfully deployed three times, one being short notice. Whether operating from Okinawa or multiple deployed locations, the squadron provided vital air defenses, cruise missile defense and regional stability in the U.S. Pacific, Central and Northern Commands' theater of operations.

"It's a team effort to anyone who makes air power possible," Jouas said. "This is Kadena, the Keystone of the Pacific, but it's also the home of air power in the Pacific. There is no other base that has as many airplanes and is crucial in so many operational plans as Kadena Air Base. And amongst that, there are not too many squadrons that are as important to what we do up in Korea as the fighting cocks."

Presented annually, the Raytheon Trophy is awarded to the top air-superiority or air-defense squadron in the Air Force, and was started by the Hughes Aircraft Company, now the Raytheon Systems Corporation, in 1953.

"This is the 60th anniversary (of the trophy being awarded) and quite appropriate (the 67th FS) is winning it for the sixth time," Jouas added. "It's changed names along the way, but one thing that has never changed is its status. It always goes to the number one, the top, the best air superiority squadron in our Air Force and that's no exception to this year."