Kirtland officer named AFMC CGO of the year

  • Published
  • By Adam Bailey
  • Nucleus staff writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Capt. Brandon Horii, 377th Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight commander, has been named Air Force Materiel Command company grade officer of the year.

"Every year, the Company Grade Officers Council, made up of lieutenants and captains, picks a CGO to receive the AFMC CGO of the year award, and this year I was chosen," Horii said.

The award is broken down into three sections, with 40 bullet points. The first part is contributions made to the CGOC comprised of 20 bullet points. The next part is leadership skills, with 12 bullets, and eight bullets for other accomplishments.

"A lot of the achievements I included were things that I had done during my deployment in Kandahar, Afghanistan," Horii said.

In Kandahar, Horii led 34 Airmen and nine EOD teams that supported 15,000 soldiers in two Army brigade combat teams.

The nine EOD teams were responsible for completing 405 missions destroying improvised explosive devices and weapons caches.

Horii was also part of the effort to build a new Air Force EOD headquarters compound on Kandahar Airfield. It was the first permanent HQ established in the seven years of the unit's existence.

Other achievements for Horii include volunteering at the University of New Mexico and mentoring Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps cadets.