58th SOW earns state public service award Published Nov. 19, 2015 By Argen Duncan Nucleus writer KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base has received a New Mexico Governor's Distinguished Public Service Award. The award was presented Nov. 11, Veterans Day, during a banquet at the Marriott Pyramid. The 58th SOW's honorary commander, Mike Mechenbeir, and his wife, Kathy, also received one of the 10 Distinguished Public Service Awards bestowed that evening. The 46-year-old awards program recognizes outstanding contributions to public service and improvement of government around New Mexico. A selection committee names recipients annually. The 58th is the second group, as opposed to an individual or couple, to receive one of the awards, with the Air Force Inspection Agency being recognized in the past. 58th SOW Commander Col. Dagvin Anderson said the wing was excited. "I think that's what it's really about here, is the Airmen that come out and get involved in the community," he said. Anderson said it was good for people to see Airmen helping around town. "The base has an impact on the community bigger than an economic impact," said his wife, Liz Anderson. Michael Chase, U.S. Department of Energy employee as well as immediate past chairman and 58th SOW liaison for the Kirtland Partnership Committee, nominated the wing. Chase said SOW personnel at Kirtland have raised more than $81,000 and donated more than 6,700 hours for dozens of charitable causes in the last year. The actual numbers are higher, he said, but those amounts are what had been documented when he requested information. After learning the Air Force Inspection Agency was honored as a group, Chase decided to try to get the 58th the same recognition. "That's a rare honor in itself," Chase said, "But it really speaks to the role they play." The people with the SOW and other entities on base provide an impact "far more than money," he said. The award citation also noted the 58th's military service. The wing employs more than 1,800 people and trains more than 2,000 students in special operations and combat search and rescue every year, according to the citation. Its Airmen participate in local search-and-rescue operations and are credited with saving more than 225 lives in more than 300 missions. On Sept. 11, 2001, the wing sent a C-130 with an emergency response team to the site of the plane crash in Pennsylvania, and it has played a significant role in the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, according to the citation. SOW Command Chief Master Sgt. Joe Montgomery said the award resulted from a group effort. "Our Airmen really work hard," he said. "They're really embedded in the community." Montgomery said the Airmen appreciate that local residents and civic and business leaders take care of them. "I've been in a lot of military communities, and this is second to none," he said. "They really pull out all the stops." As for the Mechenbiers, they ranch, run a small business and operate El Ranchito de los Niños, a long-term foster home, in Los Lunas. They opened the home in 2000 to allow foster children to stay with their siblings and grow up in a loving, stable setting. "The accolades don't go to me and my wife," Mechenbeir said. "They go to the 58th and all the other veterans today that have given their lives and sacrifices, and the sacrifices their families have made, to make it possible to have a home with freedom we have today." Anderson asked Mechenbeir to be the wing's honorary commander about a year ago. "He does a lot with the community, too, so don't let him be too humble," Anderson said. Honorary commanders are selected by wing commanders, attend wing functions and invite their military counterparts to their civilian functions. The program aims to strengthen relationships between the base and community.