CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Team Charleston members gathered together for a formal ceremony to recognize its 2009 top performers at the Charleston Club here Jan. 6.
The Annual Awards Banquet drew a crowd from across the base, anxiously awaiting the disclosure of the Annual Award winners for the categories of Airman, NCO, Senior NCO, Volunteer, Category One Civilian, Category Two Civilian, Category Three Civilian, Junior Company Grade Officer, Senior Company Grade Officer, First Sergeant, Honor Guardsman and Honor Guard Program Manager.
Award nominees were selected based on their personal achievements and contributions to the Air Force during the 2009 calendar year. Before the announcement of the winners, each nominee was presented a medallion by 437th Airlift Wing Commander Col. John Wood and Chief Master Sgt. Mike Ivey, 437 AW command chief, as recognition for their superior achievements.
For several winners, higher echelon competitions will follow, including those for the Honor Guard and First Sergeant categories. Also, winners in the Airman, NCO and Senior NCO categories will advance to the major command level to compete among Airmen throughout Air Mobility Command, with the winners proceeding to the Air Force level to compete for the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year.
The highly anticipated evening reached its climax as the audience settled and gathered their attention as the moment they'd been waiting for commenced - the announcement of the 12 award winners.
As each was named, their accomplishments were read aloud, followed by a shower of applause and the presentation of their coveted C-17 embellished awards by Colonel Wood and Chief Ivey.
The 437 AW Annual Award winners for 2009 are:
Airman of the Year: Airman 1st Class Samuel Siewert from the 437th Civil Engineer Squadron
Airman Siewert's accomplishments include removing a patient with no pulse from a commercial aircraft and helped perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, saving the person's life. Additionally, when a Commissary worker was pinned between two cars, he expertly stabilized the worker's broken leg, internal injuries and symptoms of shock. He also twice revived a patient who had been ejected during a car accident, saving another life.
Noncommissioned Officer of the Year: Staff Sgt. Cornelious Cunningham from the 437th Communications Squadron
While deployed for 191 days, Sergeant Cunningham organized $161 million of command and control contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, erased more than 300 backlogged Iraqi contract actions and slashed the turnaround time to less than 30 days. He also led operations for the official mail center, acing all anti-terrorism and bomb threat procedures to help protect more than 7,000 base personnel and $11 billion in aircraft. As a summa cum laude graduate, Sergeant Cunningham earned his bachelor's degree and is currently working on his master's degree.
Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year: Master Sgt. Donald Leydig from the 14th Airlift Squadron
While serving as the 437th Operations Group training superintendent, Sergeant Leydig created a training management checklist and revamped the group's training website, centralizing currency products for more than 1,100 aviators. He saved more than $500,000 by organizing the training for 14 loadmasters so that 15 percent of the wing's airdrop currency can be completed on missions, reducing aircraft requirements. He also served as the 437th Operations Support Squadron first sergeant and completed the Senior NCO Joint Professional Military Education Course.
Volunteer of the Year: Tech. Sgt. Scott Mills from the 16th Airlift Squadron
Sergeant Mills led six Habitat for Humanity events where 90 people worked nearly 400 hours. He volunteered 29 hours to help build houses as well. He completed five miles in the base's annual Prison of War/Missing in Action Run and led a four-person team during a POW/MIA flag ceremony to honor Charleston heroes. Sergeant Mills served as a youth soccer team coach, managed a game booth at a school carnival, and served as the chairperson of the pro-rata and seating committee for the Annual Awards Banquet.
Category One Civilian of the Year: Michael Whyne from the 437 CES
Mr. Whyne is the lead firefighter and rescuer, and he protects resources worth more than $11 billion, including nearly 60 aircraft, 300 buildings and more than 7,000 base personnel. He also fills in as the supervisory firefighter at North Auxiliary Airfield, supporting around-the-clock operations and almost 50,000 training sorties annually. Mr. Whyne also helped the unit earn the 2009 Air Mobility Command Curtin Award for the best small civil engineer unit.
Category Two Civilian of the Year: Jessica Lovette from the 437th Maintenance Operations Squadron
Ms. Lovette manages Air Mobility Command's largest maintenance training program made up of more than 35 workcenters and more than 1,100 airmen from 10 different career fields with 55,000 training events annually. She scrubbed and revamped 85 electronic files, and her program was flawless during the Unit Compliance Inspection. Ms. Lovette is also pursuing dual master's degrees.
Category Three Civilian of the Year: Leander Groover from the 437 CES
Mr. Groover leads 120 Airmen and 50 civilians responsible for the operations, maintenance and repair of 378 buildings and 726 military family housing units for the base. Additionally, to prepare for the stand-up of Joint Base Charleston, Mr. Groover drove $1.5 million in facility assessments, partnering with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Navy to evaluate structures worth more than $5 billion here and on Naval Weapons Station Charleston.
Junior Company Grade Officer of the Year: 1st Lt. Steven Schuldt from the 437 CES
Lieutenant Schuldt expertly led 12 base projects worth $3 million which revamped several areas in the 437th Medical Group, constructed a $690,000 facility for the 437th Aerial Port Squadron and directed an $850,000 addition and renovation for the explosive ordnance disposal facility. He has also been selected to attend the Air Force Institute of Technology to pursue his master's degree.
Senior Company Grade Officer of the Year: Capt. Jacqueline Young from the 437 CS
Captain Young provided flawless leadership as the acting commander of the 437 CS for more than six months, increasing Team Charleston's senior leaders' situation awareness of communications issues. He directed the replacement of a weather system at North Auxiliary Airfield, bolstering training safety for all aircraft and aircrews using the airfield. He also completed two advanced computer science post-master's degree courses from John Hopkins University.
First Sergeant of the Year: Master Sgt. Christopher Greek from the 437 CS
While deployed to Iraq, Sergeant Greek oversaw 30 adverse actions and mentored 238 Airmen, providing discipline and enhancing cohesion in a combat zone. He also reconstituted $720,000 of expeditionary shelters for the surge in Afghanistan. Sergeant Greek also completed his bachelor's degree, six credit hours towards his master's degree, and packaged and distributed 1,300 school supply bundles for children in Iraq.
Honor Guardsman of the Year: Senior Airman Averion Williamson from the 437th Mission Support Group
Airman Williamson performed 30 details totaling 220 hours and participated in the Charleston AFB honor guard's first-ever color guard detail for a National Football League game. Additionally, he conducted a training class and successfully inducted 16 new members, was selected to represent the wing at the Order of the Sword for retired Gen. Arthur Lichte, former Air Mobility Command commander.
Honor Guard Program Manager of the Year: Staff Sgt. Danial Sawyer from the 437th Force Support Squadron
Sergeant Sawyer coordinated requests for Honor Guard support and organized 48 joint funeral honors with Naval Weapons Station Charleston. He managed a 64-member team, coordinated more than 650 details, conducted five honor guard training classes, inducted 50 new members and provided coverage for 41 counties and 35,000 square miles across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.