HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Hill Air Force Base took second place, behind Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, in the Commander-In-Chief's Installation Excellence Award.

The awards were announced by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.

"Team Hill is honored to be one of the top two out of 112 Air Force installations," said Col. Linda Medler, 75th Air Base Wing commander. "While a bit disappointed that we did not finish first, it's an honor to make it this far in the competition. All of Team Hill came together to show the selection board the complexity of missions, diversity of organizations with a single focus to fly, fight and win together."

Hill is comprised of four Air Force major commands and 46 associate units with a personnel strength of 24,000.

The annual award recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations. Each winning installation succeeded in providing excellent working, housing and recreational conditions, according to a press release from Hill.

The award comes with $500,000 to be used to make quality-of-life improvements on base.