AOC Airmen receive CONR deputy commander award

  • Published
  • By Angela Pope
  • AFNORTH Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (ACCNS) --  Two Airmen from the 601st Air and Space Operations Center's Air Mobility Division received the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region Deputy Commander Award of Excellence Sept. 28, marking the first time American military members have ever received the award.

Brig. Gen. Christopher Coates, CONR deputy commander, presented the award to Maj. Adria Zuccaro, chief of the AMD's Air Refueling Control Team, and Maj. Steven Kozielecki, ARCT strategic planner, for their support of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the G20 Toronto Summit in June 2010.

"The work their team did was essential in helping us learn what we needed to do to be successful," Coates said after presenting the awards. "Their accomplishments reflect the highest efforts in teamwork."

According to the award citations, Zuccaro and Kozielecki, who are members of the Florida Air National Guard, led a multi-agency team that produced 193 tanker sorties resulting in 9 million pounds of fuel offload for the fighter jets patrolling the skies over the Olympics.

During the G20 Summit, Zuccaro served as the link between U.S. Air Force refueling assets and CONR, ensuring all refueling crews had the correct information for every mission. Kozielecki was directly involved in creating the Canadian air control plan and in ensuring the accurate entry of tanker mission data.

Master Sgt. Justin Mullins was also selected for the award, but was unable to attend the presentation. His award will be presented at a later date.