Smith receives 2016 awards for AFIMSC, AFMC

  • Published
  • By Susan H. Lawson
  • Air Force Civil Engineer Center
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Capt. Tanner Smith continues his rise as the best of the best.

AFCEC’s Operations Maintenance Division branch chief is the 2016 Air Force Installation Mission Support Center company grade officer of the year and the Air Force Materiel Command CGO of the year. For the AFMC award, Smith competed against winners from the command’s six centers and headquarters staff to include meeting a selection board at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

During 2016, Smith led an 11-member team as the operations maintenance division chief, providing operations and maintenance guidance to more than 28,000 civil engineer craftsmen at 180 total force installations worldwide. The team tackled numerous initiatives throughout the year, refocusing limited infrastructure funding and resources on holistic asset management principles.

Smith was instrumental in providing support and training to the largest information technology and operational transformation the career field had experienced in over 30 years, leading to 28 squadrons successfully reaching initial operating capability for the civil engineers enterprises’ new maintenance management business system, according to his nomination package.

“Capt. Smith came to AFCEC with a unique field perspective having been a core part of one of the first base-level teams that successfully implemented CE operations transformation,” said Col. Timothy Dodge, director of the AFCEC Operations Directorate. “He brought his knowledge, practical experience and innovative thinking to AFCEC. He helped civil engineer operations flights Air Force-wide transform using asset management principles while effectively performing base sustainment and facility operations. Ultimately, his duty, performance and strong leadership earned him this top distinction.”

According to the award, Smith was also instrumental in authoring the new Operations Engineering Playbook which lays the framework for operationalizing asset management principles within civil engineer operations. He also co-developed the Operations Engineering Maturity Model, which provides bases with both a performance-based guide that reflects the resource levels, as well as actions necessary to guide squadrons in growing their operational capability.

Smith and the operations maintenance division team also led a joint effort with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard acting as infrastructure maintenance experts to help overhaul the Coast Guard’s infrastructure preventive maintenance program. Smith and team also led a joint venture with the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency to create the first major overhaul of contractor-operated civil engineer supply programs across the Air Force impacting 22 bases and $70 million in civil engineer supply funding annually.

“Being able to meet my counterparts from the other AFMC centers was truly an informative and educational experience in regards to the depth and complexity of AFMC’s mission,” Smith said. “It is humbling to be recognized among such a functionally diverse and talented peer group. However, the credit truly goes to all the members of the operations maintenance division team within AFCEC who deserve all the recognition for their hard work and support to the bases this past year.”