WARNER ROBINS -- The C-130 section at Robins Air Force Base has won a Department of Defense award for maintenance.

The C-130 team that does heavy maintenance on the planes won the 2012 Robert T. Mason Depot Maintenance Excellence Award, according to a Department of Defense release issued Tuesday.

In 2011 the unit increased aircraft availability by returning 64 planes to operating units, reduced work in-progress from 41 to 36 planes and had a 100-percent on-time delivery rate at the end of the fiscal year, according to the release.

C-130 maintainers also lowered customer-reported deficiencies by 60 percent despite increased operational and repair demands on the aging fleet.

The team also was credited with incorporating high-velocity maintenance concepts and consolidating widely scattered production facilities, which freed up space for other uses.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.