DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE Ariz. — The Office of the Secretary of Defense named Davis-Monthan Air Force Base the top base in the Air Force for the second time in six years.

The base won the 2018 Commander-in-Chief’s Installation Excellence Award, which recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the service members who operate and maintain U.S. military installations.

Davis-Monthan last won the award in 2012.

Installations from across the Air Force competed for the award based on how well they achieve departmental objectives in several areas of installation management, including mission support, energy conservation, quality of life and unit morale, environmental stewardship, real property management, safety, health and security, communications and public relations.

“This trophy recognizes 11,000 (Davis-Monthan) Airmen who think, innovate and execute at an extraordinary level every day,” said Col. Scott Campbell, 355th Fighter Wing commander.

Davis-Monthan AFB is comprised of 34 unique mission partners that support four combatant commanders worldwide. Some of these operations include close-air support, combat search and rescue, airborne electronic combat, weather operations, and aircraft storage and regeneration.

The base is well positioned to execute this variety of mission sets given its consistent weather, abundant airspace, proximity to dynamic training areas and adjacency to Tucson, Arizona, a city of more than one million people.

These qualities allow units here to conduct year-round training events in the most realistic simulated deployed conditions possible.

Davis-Monthan AFB will be awarded several accolades, including the installation excellence trophy and flag, and granted $700,000 for base improvements.

Airmen were able to suggest improvements by filling out an electronic survey that let them select from a list of improvement options or add their own.

“It wasn’t the chiefs and commanders who won this award, it was the Airmen,” Campbell said. “This is all thanks to them.”