CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Master Sgt. Carol Poindexter is a member of the 437th Maintenance Operations Squadron and her time stationed in Charleston totals more than 10 years.
In her most recent deployment, she was a member of an expeditionary training school in the Middle East on a 365-day deployment.
During her deployment, Sergeant Poindexter said she found being involved with the Iraqi local nationals very interesting. She performed duties as an interpreter manager, supervising 22 local national men and said she experienced, firsthand, the cultural differences of being a woman in charge.
It was "truly a great experience," she said.
"I was also very fortunate to experience the social graces of my boys. Often they prepared and provided wonderful Iraqi dinners to me and fellow American military," she added.
During her deployment, Sergeant Poindexter was also on the committee to pull together all aspects of the Army's Annual 10K-run. The small committee of six performed the sign-ups, passed out t-shirts, manned a water station, jogged up to a second water station further along the trail and finally raced to the finish line to record the winners and finish times of all the participants.
While at Charleston AFB, Sergeant Poindexter is the NCO in charge of training for the 437th Maintenance Group. Sergeant Poindexter says she contributes to Team Charleston's mission by actively volunteering for deployments, developing and devising training programs for five and seven skill-level upgrade trainees to deploy, and managing approximately 50,000 training events for 437 MXG personnel.
According to Sergeant Poindexter, what she likes best about her job is interacting with a wide variety of people.
"I can always learn something from others and I always hope to give something back to them too," she said.
Sergeant Poindexter also volunteers and assists with the KeyStone Kops, a local chapter of Omar Shriners, with their annual auction. This year they raised more $9,000 for children who've suffered burn injuries.
Sergeant Poindexter's future goal is to advance her career by preparing to make the rank of senior master sergeant.
This "warrior of the week" hails from Chicago and enlisted in the Air Force more than 20 years ago. She said joined the Air Force to see the world, and said she feels she has safely achieved that goal.
"Master Sergeant Poindexter is the lead training consultant and advisor for the 437 MXG. She manages skill level upgrade and ancillary training programs for the 437 MOS, 437th Maintenance Squadron and 437th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, supporting a vital $10.7 billion C-17 fleet," said Senior Master Sgt. Debra Mosley, 437th Airlift Wing 3S2X1 functional manager. "She is an omnipotent NCO and she expects and delivers nothing but the best from the personnel she supervises and all that she takes on. She is acutely attuned to the Air Force mission and expertly integrates the upgrade training programs and policies in daily operations, thus ensuring all personnel that she comes in contact with are aware that training is the foundation of all Air Force practices."