AWARD CEREMONY Shek Hong received the Award from Lieutenant General James Pillsbury, Deputy Commanding General, US Army Materiel Command and Major General James Myles, Commanding General, US Army Aviation and Missile Command.
Hontek’s achievements in erosion protection was recognized by the Army Aviation Association of America (AAAA). Shown is Shek Hong receiving the 2009 Award from Lieutenant General Pillsbury (left) from U.S. Army Materiel Command and Major General Myles of U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (right).
PRE-AWARD PARTY February 11, 2010, Lieutenant General James Pillsbury congratulates Mr. and Mrs. Hong on Hontek’ s winning of the 2009 AAAA Material Readiness Award for Contributions by a Small Business.
U.S. Army Utility Helicopter Project Manager Colonel Neil Thurgood and Mrs. Thurgood (center) celebrated with (left to right) Shek Hong, James Metzger, Joanne Hong, Lt. Col Pete Smart and Tom O’Connor.
Afghanistan Deployment 11/2008- 11/2009 In January, 2010, Colonel Ron Lewis, former Commander of 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division and Shek Hong re-united at the Association of the United States Army Aviation 2010 Symposium in Washington, D.C. The 159th CAB was the first unit to fly the new UH-60M, equipped with Hontek-coated main rotor blades. After 31,000 flight hours in Afghanistan with 30 UH-60M and 20 UH-60A/L, the unit achieved zero main rotor blade replacement, a new historical record. In comparison, prior year deployment of another unit experienced 26% blade replacement rate without Hontek-coated blades.
Shek and Joanne Hong received the 2011 DLA Award from Vice Admiral Thompson, DLA Director, in recognition of Hontek’s successes in providing repair training and repair kits to keep the helicopters flying without expensive blade replacements.
At the 2007 AAAA Convention, Shek Hong explained the benefits of Hontek-coated rotor blades to Major General Pillsbury and the Honorable Claude Bolton, Jr. - Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (right).
2006-2007 IRAQ DEPLOYMENT OF HONTEK-COATED BLADES In April, 2007 members of the Virginia Army National Guard, Sikorsky team and Shek Hong re-united in Richmond, Virginia after the unit returned from the one-year deployment in Iraq. The Virginia Unit was the first Army unit to deploy with Hontek-coated blades on UH-60A/L. They flew two aircraft with Hontek-coated blades establishing the first historical record of zero main rotor blade replacements. The unit also flew 18 other UH-60A/L aircraft, and documented that the main blades required 30% replacement rate without Hontek coatings.