SSgt. Shilette M. Addison was selected while serving as an information-management journeyman for the 488th Intelligence Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, UK. For nearly two months, she ably managed the unit personnel office during the section chief’s absence. Airman Addison processed more than 1,200 leave forms, achieving a 100 percent on-time rate and a ninety-nine percent accuracy rate. Her superior work during the year set a new standard: She produced 400 error-free enlisted and officer performance reports.
SrA. Yuvonne C. Fischer is a community services officer and law enforcement patrolman at the 90th Security Police Squadron, F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. She established a crime-trend analysis database summarizing criminal activities and pinpointing high-crime areas. The database helped officials focus their crime-fighting efforts in specific areas. Airman Fischer also managed four Drug Abuse Resistance Education instructors, reaching 1,000 students in five local schools.
New Jersey’s Adjutant General called SMSgt. James P. Ford, Jr., ANG, of McGuire AFB, N. J., “the best recruiting and retention superintendent that we have had.” Under Sergeant Ford’s leadership, the state’s ANG achieved 100 percent of its recruitment goals. He worked effectively to combine the statewide efforts of recruiters and retainers. He also used state tuition-assistance legislation for the recruiting and retention programs, opening both educational opportunities and national service to hundreds of New Jersey youth.
Assigned to the 608th Air Communications Squadron, Barksdale AFB, La., TSgt. Joseph L. Gilpin is a telecommunications switch maintenance specialist. He developed 8th Air Force’s tactical switch database for the multinational campaign in Haiti, connecting allied forces in Cuba and Haiti to DoD and commercial networks through seventeen trunks. He also connected the US Army’s 35th Air Defense Artillery into 8th Air Force’s communications network for the joint exercise Mighty Thunder. Sergeant Gilpin voluntarily deployed to Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch, where he programmed, operated, and tested telephone communications among US Central Command, DoD, and encrypted subscribers.
As an air traffic control analyst and data systems specialist for the Standard Systems Group at Tinker AFB, Okla., SSgt. Brian D. Lavoie provides the sole technical support for the air traffic control training device for more than 130 DoD installations. He created computer-simulation training scenarios on air traffic control radar procedures for DoD and USAF users. When the 3d Combat Communications Group prepared to deploy in Operation Uphold Democracy, Sergeant Lavoie developed the training scenarios. Operational effectiveness at Elmendorf and Eielson AFBs in Alaska surged after Sergeant Lavoie reconfigured the hardware and software for their training devices and trained the system operators at both bases.
TSgt. Phyllis A. Lopez-Velazquez serves as noncommissioned officer in charge of Special Airlift Operations at Hq. US Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein AB, Germany. She supervised airlift scheduling for USAFE operational support assets. Sergeant Lopez-Velazquez directed the scheduling of 3,250 successful mission sorties and helped move 13,300 people to locations worldwide. She deployed to Hq. Joint Task Force Provide Promise in Naples, Italy, and arranged the weekly airlift to Vicenza and Brindisi, delivering timely intelligence for Operations Deny Flight and Provide Promise.
SMSgt. Kathryn L. Miller is a vehicle operations manager at the 16th Transportation Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., in charge of a $32.5 million fleet. Under her direction, the base found underused vehicles to help stand up a flying squadron and two aircraft-generation squadrons. When hurricanes Erin and then Opal threatened the base, Sergeant Miller worked around the clock, deploying 120 critical vehicles to safe shelters around Hurlburt.
When Air Mobility Command’s Air Mobility Warfare Center and the 421st Training Squadron stood up at Fort Dix, N. J., MSgt. Pasquale J. Pallotta, superintendent of Curriculum and Exercise Development, devised receiving plans for more than $10 million worth of materials being transferred from Little Rock AFB, Ark., to Fort Dix. His research efforts helped find fifteen training sites and six weapon ranges for the unit. They are used to support AMC’s contingency support operations training of more than 2,000 persons annually.
Assigned to the 603d Communications Squadron, RAF Croughton, UK, SSgt. Deana C. Shupe is a maintenance support evaluator. As a senior airman, she volunteered for a deployment to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where she operated and maintained a satellite terminal connecting four installations and three Tropo Satellite Support Radio communications links in support of Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch. The system achieved an unprecedented 99.7 percent terminal reliability rate. On her return to RAF Croughton in October 1995, her superiors chose her to manage maintenance support, an assignment normally reserved for staff sergeants.
Assigned to the 15th Supply Squadron, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, as noncommissioned officer in charge of Stock Control, TSgt. Gina K. Sullivan orchestrated a campaign to improve the efficiency of Hickam’s overburdened Stock Control Element. Her thoroughness enabled her squadron to earn a stockage effectiveness rating of 90.9 percent—the highest in PACAF. The incidence of supplies deemed non–mission capable was slashed from 4.5 percent to .2 percent—the best in the command. Sergeant Sullivan was chosen to help set up a joint service panel on interservice supply cooperation.
SSgt. Sean F. Tunaley serves as current operations information manager for NATO E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System Flying Squadron Three, Geilenkirchen AB, Germany. Chosen by the German squadron commander to deploy in support of Operations Deny Flight and Decisive Edge, Airman Tunaley wrote the operating instructions for the squadron’s advanced echelon team and trained its members. His efficient tracking of flight-training requirements and schedule updates for more than 150 aircrew members contributed to the squadron’s success at a time when its flying commitments increased by fifty percent.
In his first year as a recruiter, TSgt. John O. Twigg, Jr., of the 333d Recruiting Squadron, Patrick AFB, Fla., turned out to be the best in the business. He was assigned to an area that had little Air Force presence and no Air Force mentors to help him. Even so, Sergeant Twigg in a single year recruited seventy-five new airmen, more than twice the Air Force’s annual goal of thirty-four per recruiter. More than half of his enlistees scored in the upper one-third of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery of tests. Sergeant Twigg’s outstanding efforts earned him triple honors as USAF’s Top Rookie Recruiter, Top Enlisted Programs Recruiter, and Top Overall Recruiter.