Cheyenne Trophy awarded to Det. 53 and 153rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

  • Published
  • Wyo. Military Department
CHEYENNE, Wyo. --  The Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce presented the Cheyenne Trophy to the Wyoming Army National Guard's Detachment 53 and the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron during the May chamber luncheon, held at the Wyoming Air National Guard base.

The Cheyenne Trophy is a long-standing award presented to outstanding military units or personnel by the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.

Det. 53 was established in 1995 and over the last 15 years, Det. 53 has supported a wide variety of missions to include support of the Wounded Warrior Transport Program, movement of sensitive material, transportation of heavy cargo, courier missions and passenger transportation to special events, which has saved the state of Wyoming hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Det. 53 was deployed from December 2009 to December 2010, It's mission during the deployment was to observe, detect, identify, and neutralize enemy threats under Task Force ODIN to help defeat IEDs, and increase the survivability of U.S. Army units.

"I am proud of the men and women of Det. 53. Our mission is a very diverse one that requires a lot of support and training alongside of our fellow Wyoming Guard Units," said Chief Warrant Officer Randy Sindelir, Det. 53 commander. 'We appreciate the recognition that we have received from the Cheyenne Community."

Some of the accomplishments the maintenance squadron did to earn this award include maintaining a constant world presence deploying more than 155 members in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Joint Enterprise; successful prosecution of the Global War on Terrorism by deploying 125 members for 1,056 days; and providing airlift support by flying more than 1,860 sorties, carrying more than 22,000 passengers and more than 6,000 tons of cargo. 153 AMS members donated countless hours of time to Cheyenne's local community and charitable organizations by collecting food, maintaining a highway, delivering meals, distributing clothes and constructing a veterans' housing complex.

"I could not be prouder of the men and women of the Maintenance Group. They have been running full speed since September 2001 and the consistency in which they produce safe, reliable, mission ready aircraft is remarkable," Col. Pat Moffett, 153rd Maintenance Group commander said. "They are true professionals."