LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The 123rd Airlift Wing has earned its 21st Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award and its sixth Curtis N. “Rusty” Metcalf Trophy for excellence, officials announced during a ceremony at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base here Sunday, continuing the unit’s legacy as the most decorated tactical airlift wing in the United States Air Force.
The ASOUA is bestowed annually or biennially to the top 10 percent of all Air Force operational units, while the Metcalf trophy honors the best airlift or air refueling wing in the Air National Guard each year.
“We are here today to honor the incredible accomplishments of this wing — the groups and individuals that make this airlift wing the best in the Air Force,” said Brig. Gen. Bruce Bancroft, Kentucky’s assistant adjutant general for Air.
“Everything we do in military service is based around a team,” Bancroft told hundreds of Airmen gathered in the Fuel Cell Hangar for the event. “I believe the team and the teammate are at the core of what we do. And the teamwork generated across this wing has been phenomenal.
“The recognition received today showcases those team efforts. You have established and continue to strengthen a reputation across the Air Force. I’m extremely proud of the legacy you’ve created. You have a lot to be proud of.”
The wing earned its latest ASOUA for exceptional achievement from Jan. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023. During that time, the wing executed a broad spectrum of missions from homeland disaster response to multinational overseas taskings, deploying 340 Airmen to 10 countries and five geographic commands for 47,406 days in support of Operations Allies Welcome, Freedom’s Sentinel, Inherent Resolve-ISIS, Iron Riptide, Joint Task Force-GITMO, Juniper Shield, Spartan Shield and 11 named exercises.
The wing's 165th Airlift Squadron led the way, with a flying-hour execution among the best in the Air National Guard at 138 percent in 2022 and 122 percent in 2023, transporting 682.7 tons of cargo and 5,998 passengers, including critical airlift in Lithuania that enabled a key NATO ally in European defense.
The squadron took a leading role at Air Defender, the largest NATO exercise in four decades, flying 11 airlift missions as the primary C-130 Hercules provider of trans-Atlantic mobility, and directing a highly successful culmination mission integrating five aircraft and four NATO partners. In the South Pacific, the squadron supported Cope North with two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and associated aircrews, integrating with the wing's 123rd Contingency Response Group and U.S. Pacific Air Forces to provide airlift capabilities for 200 troops and 367.8 tons of cargo, facilitating Agile Combat Employment in austere locations like Tinian Island and airfields not used since World War II.
The wing’s 123rd Maintenance Group similarly leaned forward, enabling 1,449 sorties and 2,932 flying hours with a mission-capable rate easily exceeding Air Guard standards. In 2023, it deployed Airmen for Cope North to provide direct support to the Contingency Response Group for Specialized Fueling Operations; and for Air Defender, where the Airmen supported C-130H/J aircraft of six types from 10 units, attaining a 95 percent utilization rate.
The wing’s Contingency Response Group was equally engaged, leading a team of Australian, Japanese, New Zealand and U.S. forces to open and operate an austere airfield during Cope North, enabling 25 aircraft, 10 short tons of cargo and 309 passengers while also responding to two critical injuries, saving the lives of both troops with superior casualty evacuation response. In Germany for Air Defender, the unit provided lead logistics planning that enabled all airflow from the United States while also controlling inter-theater airlift for 249 sorties, 1,521 short tons and 2,647 passengers.
Of special significance, the Airmen convincingly demonstrated the role of Contingency Response forces in enabling combat air power by executing a Specialized Fueling Operation that serviced A-10 aircraft directly from a C-130, using the Hercules as a portable fuel station to sustain aircraft operations in austere locations with no local fuel source.
In the Philippines, those same Airmen completed four surveys for Marine aviation, cross-trained with the Navy for cargo loading capability and executed the movement of key humanitarian aid after Typhoon Dioksuri for Mobility Guardian. The unit's Airmen also helped rebuild homes in Palau after Typhoon Mawar for Iron Riptide; and supported drop zone operations for Resolute Sentinel in Ecuador, arctic operations for Polar Reach in Greenland and an air base opening in Nome, Alaska, for Arctic Eagle.
The wing’s 123d Special Tactics Squadron was a significant contributor to global missions, as well, deploying combat controllers to Korea to exercise airspace deconfliction and personnel recovery; to Peru to perform landing zone surveys and airfield operations involving multiple aircraft; and to Wyoming, where the unit's Airmen demonstrated Agile Combat Employment capabilities by controlling and landing multiple aircraft on a state highway. The unit also deployed 13 personnel to Nigeria to secure a top aviation hub.
Meanwhile, the wing’s Critical Care Air Transport Teams deployed to the Pacific to support 13 evacuation sorties for 17 patients with a 100 percent survival rate.
Back home, the 123rd Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight responded to nine requests from law enforcement to safely disarm more than 1,200 munitions. The unit also led a team to train and equip a battalion of Ecuador de-mining troops under a $1.3 million program that is clearing the last mines from a previously contested border.
When massive flooding struck eastern Kentucky, claiming more than 40 lives, the wing rapidly deployed Airmen from multiple functions to establish crucial communications and manage crisis-response operations. Special Tactics rescued 19 citizens from raging floodwaters and recovered the remains of four others while conducting 36 search-and-rescue helicopter missions, earning the Governor's Outstanding Unit Citation.
At the same time, the 123rd Communications Squadron deployed six Airmen and a Joint Incident Site Communications Facility, providing critical satellite links in support of decontamination, search and rescue, and fatality extraction missions, enabling the rescue of 1,400 people over four days. Additionally, the wing's Fatality Search and Recovery Team provided crucial support to county coroners to manage flood casualties, reuniting families with 20 deceased citizens.
During the evaluation period, the wing also earned its 20th Outstanding Unit Award, as well as a separate Meritorious Unit Award for support its Airmen provided to Operations Allies Refuge and Allies Welcome, the missions to evacuate personnel from Afghanistan at the conclusion of Operation Enduring Freedom.
This was all accomplished while the wing underwent a total conversion from C-130H Hercules to C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, during which time it trained 27 cross-flow pilots, 30 cross-flow loadmasters and scores of aircraft maintainers, executing thousands of formal training days to attain full proficiency.
The second honor bestowed on Sunday — the Metcalf Trophy — recognizes the wing’s accomplishments from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023. That period overlaps with achievements covered under the ASOUA, but with an additional three months’ consideration at the end of 2023.
During those three months, the wing deployed 53 Airmen and C-130J aircraft to Germany in support of Operation Silver Arrow, flying 24 taskings to include 237 tons of cargo, 319 passengers and one critically ill medical evacuation patient as part of the European Defense Initiative while maintaining an outstanding 96.5 percent mission capable rate.
Col. Matthew Quenichet, wing commander, said the achievements recognized by both awards represent “the real-world application of constant military readiness,” and he expressed his appreciation to the wing’s Airmen for their continued dedication.
Noting that excellence is a fundamental part of the unit’s character, he said the wing continues to set benchmark standards on a daily basis, with an impressive list of accomplishments in just the past year, including deployments to Antarctica, Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, in addition to providing key support to local, state and federal authorities after a United Parcel Service MD-11 cargo jet crashed in Louisville last month, killing 14.
“Thank you to the entire wing for your tireless efforts,” he said. “Your level of sustained achievement has truly become so commonplace that it’s difficult to highlight what we should be most proud of.”
Only a handful of units of any type have equaled or surpassed the wing’s number of Outstanding Unit Awards, and the 123rd’s standing among tactical airlift units is unique: No others have 21 or more.
The 123rd has now earned nine consecutive outstanding unit awards, with previous honors being bestowed in 1970, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Past Metcalf trophies were awarded in 1994, 2002, 2007, 2014 and 2021.
The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award was previously known as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. It was renamed in 2020 to accommodate the newly formed United States Space Force.