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380AEW Article

380 MSG executive officer wins Marquez award

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Eric Peterson
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
Undisclosed area --  The 380th Mission Support Group executive officer is the recipient of the 2013 United States Air Force Leo Marquez Munitions and Missile Maintenance Company Grade Officer of the Year award.

Air Force Capt. Cory Helms, who is a native of King George, Va., said he received notice of winning the prestigious award in a congratulatory message sent from his home-unit commander at Elgin Air Force Base, Fla.

The annual award was created to recognize Air Force members working in the aircraft munitions and missile maintenance career fields. The awards program was named for the late Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez, who served in the U.S. Air Force as deputy chief of staff for logistics and engineering.

Helms was credited in part in the award citation with providing munitions maintenance and precision calibration support as maintenance operations officer for the 96th Maintenance Squadron. His efforts were key to developmental and operational testing, ultimately affecting the entire Air Force community.

His previous awards include having won the competition at the USAFE major command level while serving as a maintenance officer at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
This was the first time he garnered an Air Force level award.

"It's just a great honor to receive this award at the Air Force level," Helms said. "It's just amazing."

Helms was excited to have been selected as this year's winner of the national award but was quick to include his coworkers to share in the accolades.

"That awards package that I received highlights the outstanding efforts of the members of my unit," Helms said. Clearly they do some amazing things, and this just highlights it for them, so it's awesome."

Helms says he will be presented with his award at a later date and his name and photograph will be permanently added to the Marquez award wall display located in the Pentagon.