The 21st Space Wing recently received the 2013 General Thomas S. Moorman, Jr. Award for Air Force Space Command's Best Operational Wing.

The award was one of four awards won by the wing in recent months.

"This award is a testament to our entire incredible team -- active duty, Reserve, Guard, civilian and contractor -- all working tirelessly day in and day out to achieve excellence," said Col. John Shaw, 21st Space Wing commander. "I am proud of this well-deserved recognition, and even prouder of all of you."

In the award notification to the 21st Space Wing, Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command commander, praised the wing's "superb professionalism and dedication to AFSPC's highest standard of excellence," noting that the many contributions the wing makes to the nation's defense reflect positively on the entire command.

"This award signifies the dedication and hard work of the men and women of the 21st Space Wing across all mission areas," said Lt. Col. Robert Hutt, 21st Operations Support Squadron commander. "We have a lot of good folks doing a lot of great work. This allows everyone to be recognized and shows AFSPC and 14th Air Force commanders that we are accomplishing many outstanding things."

Hutt's unit was responsible for compiling the award nomination packages for consideration, taking input from all of the groups and focusing on significant accomplishments across the entire wing.

"The Airmen and civilians of the 21st Space Wing are doing these types of things every day, 24/7, 365. We have a (United States Strategic Command) mission every day, an AFSPC mission every day, along with all of our mission partners that we support every day," said Hutt.

Oftentimes it can be forgotten that the 21st Space Wing extends far beyond Peterson, with the mission and people scattered around the globe, performing specific tasks in a unified force of excellence.

"The 21st Space Wing is unique because we have so many different sites, so many different missions," said Hutt. "We do many things for many different folks."