Alamo Wing celebrates 2017 Annual Awards winners Published April 9, 2018 By Staff Sgt. Lauren Snyder 433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Members and friends of the 433rd Airlift Wing gathered for an evening of pomp to celebrate the 2017 Annual Awards at the Marriott Courtyard Westover Hills April 7, 2018. Before the banquet began, a Medallion Ceremony was held to honor all Alamo Wing quarterly award winners with a medal presentation. The seventh annual event kicked off with introductions and opening remarks from the Masters of Ceremonies. Then each annual-award-hopeful in attendance entered the room under a saber cordon from the Honor Guard. After the singing of the National Anthem and invocation, the Honor Guard presented the MIA/POW table ceremony. Col. Thomas “TK” Smith, Jr., 433rd AW commander, welcomed everybody in attendance. Mentioning everyone’s flexibility about delaying the celebration until April, he went on to list a few of the wing’s 2,500 members’ accomplishments for the year. “I have a lot to thank you, our airmen, for this year: buckling down on readiness training, outstanding support for hurricane relief on virtually no-notice and an incredible effort for the UEI (Unit Effectiveness Inspection) Capstone visit,” said Smith. Each annual award winner competed at 4th Air Force for the Outstanding Airmen of the Year 2017. Two Alamo Wing winners advanced to the Air Force Reserves Command and Headquarters Air Force, he said. “Our award winners tonight undeniably represent the world’s greatest Air Force in their respective functional duties and through our shared core values by making exceptional contributions to the Air Force and Alamo Wing mission success,” said Smith. He thanked everyone involved in making the banquet a success from the hotel staff, first sergeants, band, honor guard, honorary commanders, sponsors, and supervisors. Retired Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth A. Williams, the Superintendent of Air Force Basic Training 2011-2013 here, attended the banquet as the guest speaker. Williams brought joviality to the night as he interacted with the crowd with his thoughts on staying motivated with “keeping things moving,” cautioned against “white rice friends” who are nice but provide no value, and gave some silly gifts. Following Williams’ speech, the high point of the evening commenced as annual award winners were announced and received congratulations from leadership as their award was presented. 433rd AW’s 2017 Outstanding Airmen and Civilian Award winners: Civilian of the Year (Category I) - Nicole Nagle, 433rd Aerospace Medicine Squadron Civilian of the Year (Category II) - Jessica J. Mattice, 433rd Operations Support Squadron Civilian of the Year (Category III) – Michael G. Medrano, 433rd OSS Airman of the Year - Senior Airman Jonathan Francis, 433rd OSS Noncommissioned Officer of the Year - Tech. Sgt. Justin Samaniego, 433rd OSS Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year - Master Sgt. Kit Lui, 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron First Sergeant of the Year - Master Sgt. Tammanica Muse; 433rd Security Forces Squadron Company Grade Officer of the Year: Capt. Erica Cordes, 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Master Sgt. Lui and Master Sgt. Muse also won at the 4th AF and AFRC levels for their respective categories. Chief Master Sgt. Brian Pinksy, 433rd AW command chief, closed the official portion of the banquet. He spoke about his pending retirement and how proud he is to be a part of the unit. He thanked the Alamo Wing members for all their efforts. “You do what you do best, and I get to brag, brag, brag,” he said.