309th SWEG wins coveted software maintenance excellence award

  • Published
  • By Kendahl Johnson
  • 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Hill Air Force Base's 309th Software Engineering Group was recognized by the Department of Defense with its coveted Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper Award for Software Maintenance Excellence.

The award recognizes the top organic software activity that, through its mission accomplishments, provided extraordinary capability for operational units supported. The award is named after RDML Grace Hopper, a pioneer of computer programming who popularized the idea of machine-independent programming languages.

"Winning the 2024 Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper Award is a tremendous honor for the 309th Software Engineering Group," said Jim Diamond, 309th SWEG director. "It is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovation of our team. This award is particularly meaningful as it recognizes our commitment to advancing the field of software development, a passion shared by Rear Admiral Grace M. Hopper herself. We are inspired by her legacy and will continue to strive for excellence in our work.”

U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and mathematician who died in 1992.  She was a pioneer in computer programming and broke barriers for women in the field of computers. She was the first to devise the theory of machine-independent programming languages, and used this theory to develop several high level programming languages still in use today. 

The 309th SWEG also won the award in 2020. The group will formally be presented its award at a ceremony December 11, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The ceremony is held in conjunction with the annual DoD Maintenance Symposium.