Alamo Wing recognizes its best Airmen

Left to Right: 433rd Airlift Wing, Category I, Outstanding Civilian of the Year, Lloyd J. Watkins, Jr., 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron; CAT II, Civilian of the Year, Shane MacDonald, 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron; CAT III, Outstanding Civilian of the Year, Stephen Knight, 733rd Training Squadron; Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Staff Sgt. Richard Slifer, Jr., 433rd Maintenance Squadron; Airman of the Year, Senior Airman Rikel Cifre-Ajarie, 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron; Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Master Sgt. Joe Gonzalez, Jr., 26th Aerial Port Squadron; First Sergeant of the Year Award, Senior Master Sgt. Diana Marlette, 26th Aerial Port Squadron. (U.S. Air Force by Tech. Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino)

Alamo Wing honrs its best

The 433rd Airlift Wing fourth Annual Awards Banquet's keynote speaker of the night was Col. William W. Whittenberger, Jr., commander, 433rd Airlift Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Whittenberger challenged this year’s winners to repeat as winners for the next year. More than 300 Airmen, honorary commanders, family members and guests attended the event on Feb. 7, 2015, hosted by the First Sergeants Council at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. (U.S. Air Force by Tech. Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino)

433rd Airlift Wing recognizes the "Best of the Best"

A 68th Airlift Squadron, seven-man crew, “UHAUL-21” was awarded the 4thAir Force Aircrew Excellence Award, Nov 19, 2014 in Riverside, California. Major Federico Mendoza (right) was on hand to receive the award from Col. Lee Merkle, 433rd Operations Group commander during the 433rd Airlift Wing Awards Banquet, held Feb. 7, 2015 at the Gateway Club, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Krystal Jeffers)

433rd Airlift Wing recognizes the "Best of the Best"

“Team Pegasus” was awarded the inaugural Operation Alamo Stampede Mobility Competition Award during the 433rd Airlift Wing Awards Banquet, held Feb. 7, 2015 at the Gateway Club, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. Two teams competed for the award. The competition included everything from servicing the aircraft, uploading and offloading vehicles and equipment on and off the aircraft with engines running, flying a mission in the local area, and aerial refueling. (Left to right) Col. William Whittenberger, 433rd Airlift Wing commander, members of “ Team Pegasus;” Capt. Michael Medrano, 433rd Operations Support Squadron, Major Federico Mendoza, 68th Airlift Squadron and Major James Hearn, 74th Aerial Port Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Krystal Jeffers)

Alamo Wing recognizes its best Airmen

433rd Airlift Wing medallions were awarded to quarterly award winners prior to the Annual Awards Banquet. More than 300 Airmen, honorary commanders and guests attended the 433rd Airlift Wing’s fourth Annual Awards Banquet at the Gateway Club, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Feb.8, 2015. The event was hosted by the 443rd Airlift Wing First Sergeants Council. (U.S. Air Force by Tech. Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino)

Alamo Wing honors award winners at annual award banquet

Published Feb. 8, 2015
By Tech Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino
433 Airlift Wing

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, TEXAS --
The 433rd Airlift Wing's fourth Annual Awards Banquet was a night for members of the "Alamo Wing" to celebrate the best-of-the-best. More than 300 Airmen, honorary commanders, friends, family and guests attended the festive occasion here at the Gateway Club Feb.7. The event was hosted by the 443rd AW First Sergeants Council.

Prior to the awards banquet, the Medallion Ceremony kicked off the event with a medal presentation given to all quarterly award winners for the year. Col. William W. Whittenberger, Jr., 433rd AW commander, along with the AW Command Chief Master Sergeant, Brian M. Pinsky presented the medals.

"They're winners, you are what I want out of this wing," said Whittenberger as he spoke about the medalists at the banquet. "I want to take each and every one of you and make a cookie cutter mold and perpetuate that throughout the entire wing," he said.

"I want to bring out some things they (quarterly award winners) all shared: pride, initiative, energy. It makes me proud to show up and work for them every single day. You made this better, thank you," said Whittenberger.

The award winners were chosen based on their highest combined scores in the areas of job performance, leadership, self-improvement and contributions in community service. Educational accomplishments, physical fitness scores, and awards and decorations were also a factor.

After the award presentations, Whittenberger gave his closing remarks, "I am going to ask that you take away two things; your achievements here and to continue to fly, fight and win. I am happy to recognize you because you are the foundation of the future of the Air Force. We can't survive without the work that you do."
"Tonight you are the elite one percent of this wing, I want to see if you can do it again next year," Whittenberger said.

Chief Pinsky, echoed the commander, "We are serious about what we do. That is the atmosphere and culture that we want. Professional people who want to be here, who enjoy what they do," he said.

"I want you to think about two things; think about what culture you want, and the environment that you want to work in -- do you want it be fun like you had tonight," Chief Pinsky asked.

The 433rd AW First Sergeants Council also wanted to recognize the support system of the honored Airmen.

"Each of the winners and nominees had an additional support team consisting of not only the member's military chain of command, but also an integral alliance of family, friends, and civilian employers," said Senior Master Sgt. Diana Marlette, 26th Aerial Port Squadron First Sergeant. "The secret of success can also be directly linked to our Wingman Warrior Ethos and Four Pillars Comprehensive Airman Fitness: physical, social, mental and spiritual. Thank you to all for allowing our leadership to be a part of their journey."

Other highlights of the evening included the recognition of the UHAUL-21 crew receiving the 4th Air Force Aircrew Excellence Award. The UHAUL-21 crew safely recovered their aircraft after an engine had disintegrated during a training mission, over Central Texas. In addition, the "Pelican Team," won the 433rd AW Operation Alamo Stampede competition.

The 433rd Airlift Wing 2015 Annual Award Winners were:
433rd Airlift Wing, Category I, Outstanding Civilian of the Year, Lloyd J. Watkins, Jr., 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron; CAT II, Civilian of the Year, Shane MacDonald, 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron; CAT III, Outstanding Civilian of the Year, Stephen Knight, 733rd Training Squadron; Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Staff Sgt. Richard Slifer, Jr., 433rd Maintenance Squadron; Airman of the Year, Senior Airman Rikel Cifre-Ajarie, 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron; Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Master Sgt. Joe Gonzalez, Jr., 26th Aerial Port Squadron; First Sergeant of the Year Award, Senior Master Sgt. Diana Marlette, 26th Aerial Port Squadron.

Aircrew Excellence Award
A 68th Airlift Squadron, seven-man crew was awarded the 4thAir Force Aircrew Excellence Award.

Lt. Col. James Kwasny was the aircraft commander on a C-5A Galaxy, call sign, "UHAUL 21" when the number three engine had an explosive failure causing damage to the engine, the wing, and aircraft. The crew reacted expertly and professionally, by following protocol in recovering the aircraft safely, in spite of a large hole in the side of the fuselage. Their actions in reducing the in-flight recovery time eliminated potential harm to the civilian population.

The C-5 crewmembers were; Lt. Col. James Kwasny, Majors Freddie Mendoza and Chad Greiner, 1st Lt. Russ Moeller, Technical Sergeants Jeffrey Talley and Kenneth Surrey and Staff Sgt. Robert Brown.