100th ARW announces annual award winners

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RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Congratulations to the following people who recently won the 100th Air Refueling Wing annual awards for 2008:

First Sergeant of the Year - Master Sgt. Beau Jones, 100th Force Support Squadron

As first sergeant of the 100th Force Support Squadron, 100th Air Refueling Wing staff and 3rd Air Force-UK, Master Sgt. Beau Jones compassionately assisted two families after child deaths; he arranged emergency leave and subsequent humanitarian assignments.

He merged the 100th Mission Support Squadron and 100th Services Squadron family care programs, when the two joined to become the 100th Force Support Squadron, updating and validating 32 plans. This ensured the 100th FSS was 100 percent deployable and mission ready.

Sergeant Jones created military and civilian mini professional development centers, enhancing writing, feedback and discipline, and developing skills for 42 supervisors. He organized the first sergeants' Angel Tree and Warm Heart Programs, collecting and distributing 430 gifts and $13,000 to RAF Mildenhall families.

The first sergeant also orchestrated RAF Mildenhall's Prisoner of War/Missing in Action retreat ceremony, coordinating a five-flight formation and the flyover for the final event of the week. Additionally, he organized 70 Airmen for the Tidy Up Britain campaign, cleaning the base perimeter and removing 1,200 pounds of rubbish.

Company Grade Officer of the Year - Capt. Chris Saettel, 351st Air Refueling Squadron

Capt. Chris Saettel commanded an emergency international rescue mission, overcoming problems such as low altitude and minimum fuel, which resulted in saving the life of a sailor.

He enacted an Air Force-wide KC-135 evaluation shift, moving virtually all check rides accomplished in aircraft to the simulator, which saved both fuel and maintenance. Also, he built and tested profiles, writing the necessary guidance and teaching other pilots.

As mission commander for Exercise Noble Ardent, Captain Saettel offloaded 35,000 pounds of fuel to Portuguese, Turkish and US allies while over French airspace.

He also provided support to the 352nd Special Operations Group as mission commander, delivering critical parts to Yaonde, Cameroon, and extracted a U.S. Navy SEAL team, allowing the 352nd SOG to perform their mission.

The CGO winner led a razor-sharp flyby at the Madingly Cemetery Memorial Day event, even with severe cross-winds, for which he was lauded by the 100th ARW commander.

Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year - Senior Master Sgt. John Van Duser, 100th Maintenance Group

Senior Master Sgt. John Van Duser led 11 quality assurance inspectors, covering eight Air Force Specialty Codes, flawlessly executing the maintenance evaluation program and resulting in and Excellent rating and a 93 percent pass rate in 2008.

He oversaw 3,600 maintenance assessments, safely drove 1,600 sorties, and garnered an 86.6 percent mission-capable rate, leading RAF Mildenhall to be the best KC-135 wing in the Air Force.

The senior NCO validated 114 deficiency reports, investigating data and ensuring contract compliance; this resulted in the recovery of $3 million of operation and maintenance funds. In addition, he led the wing's aircraft weight reduction effort, removing 34,000 pounds of excess equipment and saving more than $500,000 in annual fuel costs.

Proving his resourcefulness, Sergeant Van Duser rescued 77 laptops from DRMO, which he had converted with a digital technical order, saving $235,000.

He placed 235 technical orders at the users' fingertips by guiding 137 E-tool configurations. This eliminated more than 1,000 books, thereby saving the Air Force $1.2 million in printing costs.

As a problem-solver, the quality assurance superintendent developed an aircraft forms training program. As a result, 56 maintainers were trained on it and aircraft forms errors dropped by 75 percent.

Noncommissioned Officer of the Year - Master Sgt. John Carter, 100th Security Forces Squadron

Then-Tech. Sgt. John Carter proved himself a combat leader when he deployed to the Green Zone in Iraq for 210 days. He was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service and courageous acts. Those included stopping an explosive-laden car, evacuating 60 people and controlling the scene, thereby saving countless lives.

During 270 rocket attacks he led 25 security forces members in setting cordons and directing return fire within 10-meter accuracy. Sergeant Carter also led a raid on an insurgent stronghold, bagging two terrorists and stopping the kidnapping of an Army major; for this he was awarded the Army Achievement Medal.

The security forces leader was also responsible for evacuating a bunker after a direct mortar attack strike and giving life-saving first aid. He was selected for the Combat Action Badge for his efforts.

In addition, Sergeant Carter identified and dispersed $75,000 in excess equipment to five security forces geographically separated units in the United Kingdom, saving Global War on Terror funding. He turned in $2.5 million of items to DRMO from an outdated inventory, thereby increasing space and square footage in the supply hangar by 25 percent, which was then used for new Airman Battle Uniform gear.

Airman of the Year - Senior Airman James Prather, 100th Security Forces Squadron

As a result of his efforts while deployed, Senior Airman Prather was selected for U.S. Air Forces in Europe's Security Forces Elizabeth N. Jacobson Award for Expeditionary Excellence.

He also earned the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the Combat Action Badge. During 270 rocket attacks while in Baghdad, he did everything from cordons to delivering first aid.

As one of an assault team of eight members, he searched, cleared and evacuated homes, ensuring an improvised explosive device was diffused, and helped foil an assassination attempt of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Senior Airman trained 52 Iraqi police on force protection tasks, laying the foundation for IP autonomy. As a radio operator during an insurgent safehouse raid, he bagged two terrorists and foiled a kidnap plot of a U.S. Army major.

He led traffic control and escorts moving $24 million in construction funds, ensuring the convoys were kept safe.

Airman Prather was also the security forces lead for a credit card fraud; he processed 60 incidents, recouping $100,000, and his leads were paramount to an Office of Special Investigations case.

Civilian Category I, Civilian Employee - Philip Bower, 100th Civil Engineer Squadron

As a civilian, Philip Bower deployed to Afghanistan for 180 days with the Royal Air Force Auxiliary as infantry section commander, bringing an eight-man team home safely. He led more than 10 outside-the-wire patrols and escorted medical personnel to Afghan communities, assisting with vital health care operations.

At RAF Mildenhall, he ensured $80,000 of shop equipment was 100 percent operational; his proactive actions led to a 98.4 percent on-time job completion rate.

Mr. Bower is a volunteer for standby operations and a 24-hour on-call carpenter; this led to his squadron receiving a 90 percent customer satisfaction rating.

His lowering of the 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's tool-issue counter eliminated back strain, and cut tool-to-aircraft time, resulting in a saving of more than $10,000 in contract costs.

The British civilian designed the shop layout in the new civil engineer complex, ensuring all Air Force Occupational Safety and Health requirements were met, and finalized plans of the $13 million project.

His other accomplishments during 2008 include supporting four morale, welfare and recreation events, constructing stages and services, helping increase morale of RAF Mildenhall personnel.

Civilian Category II, Civilian Supervisor - Roland D. Burson, 100th Communications Squadron

Dean Burson piloted a 29-member team combining four Air Force Specialty Codes, and directed 1,300 communications work orders which resulted in a 99.99 percent voice and data uptime rate.

He managed the installation of 1,500 Voice over Internet Protocol telephones, saving $454,000 in contract installation costs and $210,000 in annual line rental fees.

After being hand-picked to fill in as operations flight commander, he led 94 personnel, with $58.5 million of equipment in network and airfield operations, providing seamless leadership.

As a result of his great management skills, he restored 984 network on $57 million-worth of equipment while 50 percent undermanned in his workcenter. For this work he was coined by the USAFE commander.

Mr. Burson oversaw vital C2 communications installation for the Incirlik bed down, involving 240 deployed Airmen, 350 missions and 4,000 tons of cargo carried.

He centralized 33 servers, valued at $120,000, into one building, thus gaining efficiency, improved physical security and returning 2,200 square feet of space.

(Information compiled from Air Force Form 1206 packages)