Happy New Year! Published Jan. 7, 2011 By Brig. Gen. Ed Wilson Commander, 45th Space Wing Patrick AFB, Fla. -- First things first. Lisa and I want to wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year! We hope each of you had some time to spend with your family and loved ones, plus get those personal batteries re-charged for a busy year! Before we look forward to what we have in front of us, let's just take a moment to reflect on all the great things we accomplished in 2010. To start, each of the following was recently highlighted by General Kehler as a 2010 "Key Milestone" for the command: Launched "first-of-a-kind" satellites to include the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-1) to provide jam resistant communications to Combatant Commanders and the first Global Positioning System (GPS) Block IIF satellite (which was also the first GPS payload launched on an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle); launched, tested and recovered America's first unmanned, reusable, long-duration space plane known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle; supported the inaugural launch of SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket and a second mission that involved reentering a Dragon capsule (the first commercial venture of its kind in space history); as well as continued the decade-plus record of consecutive successful National Security Space launches in history. These accomplishments are just the tip of the iceberg with regard to the 45th Space Wing's mission accomplishments for 2010. There are a host of other "non-space" achievements that revolve around deploying combat capabilities directly into the fight downrange. At every turn, the wing set the standard for others to follow. We're proud to report that we're not the only ones to recognize this fact. Air Force Space Command recently selected the 45th Space Wing to be awarded an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for exceptionally meritorious service. This is a true honor for the wing and recognizes the superb performance by the whole team to deliver complete mission success in a sustained manner. We can add this award to the long list of honors earned in 2010 - General Moorman Trophy for Best Space Wing in AFSPC, General Herres Trophy for Best Space Wing in 14 AF, and the Schriever Trophy for Best Space Launch Wing during Guardian Challenge. Simply put, it was truly an amazing year - we definitely kicked some tail! The team should be proud of its accomplishments. That being said, when an organization is capable of doing great things, great things will always be expected. I'm confident we'll be asked to do it all over again in 2011. We're projecting a launch manifest with 12-15 launches this year and we'll continue to deploy between 150-250 individuals at any given time in support of Combatant Commanders around the world. Plus, we fully expect to be paid a friendly visit by our Inspector General for an ORI/UCI this coming Fall or Winter. By all measures, it will be another challenging year, but that's nothing new for us. As always, we'll be ready and will deliver mission success at every turn... it's what we do. Again, all the best to each and every one of you for a blessed New Year as we start into 2011. Thanks for all you do for all of us.