ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. -- The Raiders of the 28th Bomb Wing once again distinguished themselves for their exceptionally meritorious service by garnering the 2024 Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award.
The wing is building upon Air and Space Outstanding Unit Awards won in 2023 and 2022, and a 2019 Meritorious Unit Award since being realigned under Air Force Global Strike Command in 2015.
“This is a remarkable testament to everyone working together and their unwavering dedication to accomplishing our mission of providing strategic deterrence here,” said Col. Erick Lord, 28th Bomb Wing commander. “This is a team win that clearly distinguishes us and our vital role on the world stage.”
The Secretary of the Air Force gives the award to recognize a unit’s superior performance, often involving significant accomplishments or contributions of global impact or combat operations.
Among the many achievements the wing had in 2024 were executing two Bomber Task Force deployments and five higher headquarter directives, conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and affiliated militia groups, relocating the base’s entire B-1 fleet to Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, a comprehensive base-wide mobility exercise, extensive B-21 construction projects and a myriad of community and civic outreach engagements.