Lodging Named AETC's Best Published May 19, 2009 By 2nd Lt RYAN DECAMP 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The 56th Force Support Squadron's Fighter Country Inn knew they were one of the best in the Air Force. Now they have the award to prove it. Lodging picked up the Air Education and Training Command's Air Force Innkeeper Award for 2009 in the small base category. "The hard work that all the employees have done over the years, really it's not something you do in one year," said Deborah Petti, 56th Force Support Squadron lodging manager. "It has taken us a lot of years to get ready to be competitive and I'm thrilled with the staff." When they found out they had won, the staff was ecstatic. "One of the housekeepers hugged me - they were really excited," Ms. Petti said. "It's an achievement for those who have been here for a long time." Ms. Petti added that Luke has been nominated several times for awards like this, but never won. Now they will compete against the winners of the other eight major commands for the title of best in the Air Force. Although getting nominated is impressive on its own, lodging needed to work through a 27-page checklist just to compete. The list had a maximum score of 1,641 points and most of the requirements were only worth one point each. When it was all said and done, lodging had earned a 95.6 percent overall. Because of manning constraints and retraining, many staff members do not have a lot of experience, according to Ms. Petti. "For our staff to be as new as they are, we were surprised and extremely happy they did as well as they did," said Ron Schoenthal, 56th FSS assistant lodging manage. Ms. Petti noted the consistent work of the staff who have put many years worth of work into the Fighter Country Inn. "I've been saying of our housekeeping staff for years, we have some of the cleanest rooms here that I have ever stayed in," Ms. Petti said. "When we stay in New York (at large hotels) their rooms are not clean like ours. Their baseboards are dirty and their air conditioning vents are thick with dust. Our housekeeping staff works hard here and our staff does a great job." Ms. Petti and Mr. Schoenthal literally finished each other's sentences when talking about the teamwork involved in driving the Fighter Country Inn to where it is today. "We can't do this by ourselves," she said. "It's a big team effort. The 56th Civil Engineer Squadron plays a big role in maintaining our facilities. It's not just something we're able to do by ourselves. The 56th FSS monitors our budgets, equipment listings and vehicles - their oversight helps us stay on track too." The Air Force Performance Based Awards Program inspected lodging in December. They scored a 91.8 percent overall. Compared to the UCI, "This inspection is just as big in our world," Mr. Schoenthal said. By the time April came around, lodging had raised their score almost four percent from the December rating. They will have to keep getting better if they want to win Air Force wide Ms. Petti said. At the Air Force level, inspectors visit only the top half of the MAJCOM winners. If Luke makes the cut, lodging will not have much time to prepare for the next inspection. "We'll get very little notice, maybe a week at best because they want to see you operate like you do on a daily basis and evaluate based on that," Ms. Petti said. Whether they win or not, the lodging managers are happy with everyone's work. "We've got a great team here - Luke should be proud of that," Mr. Schoenthal said.