FOD poster program awards 2nd fiscal quarter winner

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jason McCasland
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Geoffrey Hollis and Jared Roy, students from Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Natchitoches, La., were named the 2nd Bomb Wing's quarterly foreign object debris or FOD poster winner and runner-up at the wing FOD meeting, here Wednesday.

The FOD program coordinates preventative measures to guarantee the B-52H Stratofortress, valued at more than $73 million, stays airworthy to provide the backbone of the bomber force with the ability for global attack and precision engagement.

This quarter marked the first time an outside agency submitted posters for the FOD poster program and the first time a runner-up was also selected.

"The President of Northwestern State University saw an article that highlighted the FOD program earlier this year," said Tech. Sgt. Steven Vance, 2 BW FOD monitor. "Shortly after, I was contacted by Sean Aldrin, an NSU professor, about submitting his students' work. After reading the article Mr. Aldrin gave his students an extra credit assignment to create a FOD poster that would be submitted to us."

Mr. Aldrin, who won the annual National Aerospace FOD Prevention, Inc. conference poster contest in 1997 knew exactly what the FOD program was and how important it is the prevention of damage to aircraft. He instructed his students on what the FOD program is what the posters are for.

"I wanted the students to know that they would be making something that could impact not just their grade, but others," said Aldrin. "The students that participated in the poster had a great time working on the posters and put a lot of thought and hard work into them."

Hollis received a certificate of recognition from the 2 BW vice commander and a personalized tail flash plaque for his winning FOD poster Hollis's poster will also be on display at the Touch-N-Go flight kitchen. Roy also received a certificate as the first runner-up.

"The submissions of the NSU students will go a long way towards raising the awareness of FOD and ultimately helping us prevent damage to our aircraft and help us save lives," said Col. Reid Langdon 2BW vice commander. "We look forward to a continued partnership with NSU students in the future and appreciate the creativity our Airmen and the students of NSU have brought to the FOD program."

Since it's everyone's responsibility to help keep a watchful eye for potential FOD threats, the 2 BW FOD poster program helps raise awareness and prevention by getting not just maintainers involved in the fight against FOD.

To enter a FOD poster, participants must submit an entry that fits on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper or electronic equivalent, and include a slogan with the acronym "FOD." Military submissions must also have the artist's name, work center and supervisor's name, for civilian entries a FOD Poster Contest Entry & Release Form must be filled out and submitted with the poster. Posters must be entered by the end of the quarter. The next deadline to submit entries is June 30 for the April - June quarter.

For more information on how to submit an entry or general FOD questions contact Tech. Sgt. Steven Vance at steven.vance.1@us.af.mil or call 456-9275.