18th OG earns AF-level resource management award Published May 13, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Zade C. Vadnais 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 18th Operations Group was recently awarded the 2013 Air Force Aviation Resource Management Sergeant Dee Campbell Outstanding Large Unit award for significant contributions to Pacific Air Forces and the Air Force as a whole. "This is a true team win for the OG because all of the flying squadrons plus the 18th OSS contributed to earning it," said Lt. Col. Robert Pekarek, 18th OSS commander. Each 18th OG flying squadron has an aviation resource management section that manages aircrew currencies, flight records and aircraft scheduling. The individual flight records and squadron personnel are functionally managed by the Host Aviation Resource Management office in the 18th OSS, led by Senior Master Sgt. Aaron Kigar, HARM superintendent. During the award period, aviation resource managers from the 18th OG certified incentive pay for more than 800 members in three different major commands in addition to deploying as air advisors, mentoring eight Afghanistan air force members, enabling the execution of 476 combat missions. Aviation resource managers from the 18th OG also supported more than 9,300 sorties as well as identifying and developing solutions for errors within the aviation resource management database and training module and distributing the solutions Air Force-wide, saving $4.4 million. "I'm really proud to be a part of this team," Pekarek said. "They do excellent work that is a cut above the rest and that's why they were recognized at the Air Force level."