HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Detachment 7 earned the Air Force Materiel Command-level Commander Support Staff of the Year Award for supporting readiness, personnel and administration.
The unit acts as the command and administrative structure for hundreds of embedded military members working across multiple Hanscom AFB-based directorates and program offices.
“We ensure the readiness of the force and directly tie to the AFMC priority of winning as a team,” said Lt. Col. Yaira Nevarez-Samshair, commander of AFLCMC Det. 7. “Our Airmen, military and civilians, are at the heart of what we do.”
Unlike typical Air Force unit structure, Det. 7’s mission is largely focused on enabling acquisition professionals to prioritize delivering capability to the warfighter.
Hanscom AFB is home to three Air Force program executive offices: PEO for Cyber & Networks, PEO for Electronic Systems; and the PEO for Presidential & Executive Airpower; as well as two portfolio acquisition executives: Command, Control, Communications and Battle Management, and Nuclear Command, Control and Communications.
Highlighting the team’s ability to adapt to this high-impact mission, Nevarez-Samshair said the award is notable since some members of the team are new to the unit.
“Receiving this AFMC-level award is a testament of the great work of the Det. 7 members who show up every day ready to serve and execute their missions,” she said. “I am extremely proud of their ability to learn and serve at the same time.”
Staff Sgt. Randall Malley explains the detachment supports ongoing readiness efforts by identifying and preparing acquisition-assigned personnel for the installation’s augmentee program.
“We help facilitate this program by identifying personnel to fill roles such as emergency management, deployments, Honor Guard, Drug Demand Reduction Program, fitness testing and security,” said Malley, a unit deployment manager for Det. 7.
Tech Sgt. Salvador Cardenas explained how last year’s government shutdown forced Det. 7 to prioritize requirements and cross-train personnel to meet mission demands.
“In the end, it strengthened our processes because we became more deliberate, better organized and more resilient when manpower was limited,” he said, who serves as the section’s enlisted leader.
Leaders spotlighted the unit’s support of a realignment of 300 personnel across three program executive offices as an accomplishment, including coordinating with the Air Force Personnel Center to secure permanent change of station entitlements for Kessel Run personnel.
The detachment also helped implement a new strength management program and maintained physical fitness testing requirements, supporting broader Air Force readiness priorities.
According to unit leaders, Det. 7 also updated its body composition program affecting more than 500 Airmen across four directorates and implemented an information technology asset management system that accounted for a $58,000 inventory within 24 hours.
“This award reflects the value placed on support functions like the Commander Support Staff,” said Nevarez-Samshair. “Our focus taking care of people so that the mission can continue.”