AMC SAFETY OFFICER OF THE YEAR
CAPT LINNEA B. PUGH
305th Air Mobility Wing,
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ

CAPT LINNEA B. PUGH, Flight Safety Officer, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL), NJ, was named the 2022 Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) Safety Officer of the Year for 2022.

A JBMDL leader for KC-10 Extender and KC-46 Pegasus safety, Pugh conducted five squadron annual and spot inspections and was key to safe KC-10 divestment and switching to the KC-46. Pugh crushed the KC-10 and KC-46 quality transition, earning two “commendables” on evaluations. She is JBMDL’s first dual-hatted tanker Flight Safety Officer.

Pugh collected evidence, preserved facts, and organized three major commands’ data as she led two Class A aircraft mishap responses. She identified six root causes and $792,000 in aircraft damage while investigating nine Class C, D, and E mishaps and created seven key mishap prevention measures. Pugh also recognized and eliminated a negative flight line operations trend by completing 40 high interest area inspections, which resolved a $3.3 million damage issue for five AMC airframes.

She was the last JBMDL-deployed Flight Safety Officer for the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing’s five airframes and ensured a smooth training transition for the new Flight Safety Officer, securing transfer of the best Air Combat Command/AMC operations strategies. She drove the JBMDL Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) working group and analyzed data for two airfields, four wings, and 134 aircraft, validating the joint base’s $1.6 million U.S. Department of Agriculture management plan.

Furthermore, Pugh protected the wing’s $9.3 billion, 35-aircraft fleet by fulfilling 36 days of 24-hour on-call availability and providing an expeditious KC-10 in-flight emergency safety response.

She ensured squadron safety members were 100 percent equipped by authoring a wing safety training plan and liaising with a sister wing for Air Force Safety Automated System account error removals. She also accelerated a runway reopening by attacking an emergency on-call airfield security problem and enabled nine deer removals during a gate system failure.

Among other actions, Pugh increased airfield innovation and compliance in her role as the wing’s solo risk management instructor by correcting 12 issues with deliberate risk assessments for six joint construction projects.