THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, May 29, 1995 TAG: 9505270318
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: TALK OF THE TOWN
LENGTH: Short : 28 lines
When the Better Business Bureau in Norfolk handed out quality awards this winter, the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base won the government category.
The wing, a military unit often on patrol abroad, might seem a world away from the BBB standards used to test corporate quality. Some of the unit's mettle was revealed last week when Brig. Gen. Gregory S. Martin turned over command of the wing to Col. William R. Looney III.
Each of the wing's three squadrons has shrunk from 24 planes to 18. Yet the 1st dispatches two squadrons every six months to southern Iraq. It responded within hours to beef up forces in Saudi Arabia when Iraq threatened Kuwait last fall. And it recently began periodic patrols in Iceland.
All this occurs as Air Force wings that once worked at 50 percent capacity now work at 95 percent capacity. ``That doesn't mean we are overtaxed, but we are fully taxed,'' Looney said. by CNB