AMC announces annual award winners

from Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

3/29/2013 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Six Airmen and two teams learned they were AMC's annual award winners as they received phone calls from the AMC commander and command chief, March 25, 2013.

The categories of annual award winners are Airman, NCO, Senior NCO, First Sergeant, Honor Guard Member, Honor Guard Program Manager, Honor Guard Team and First Sergeant Council.

Chief Kaiser said, "Every year I am amazed by the quality and superb accomplishments of our annual award winners. The accomplishments and caliber of our winners continues a strong record of recognizing phenomenal Airmen. They represent a diverse mix of specialties, yet they all share a thread: they are the epitome of our Air Force Core Values. We are so proud of them all. And very thankful for their supervisors, commanders, and enlisted leaders in recognizing their families for enabling our award winners to serve our country."

The recipients are:

AMC Airman of the Year
Senior Airman Devin Jaggers, 6th Security Forces Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla., is a Phoenix Raven team member and was the AMC Raven and 6th Mission Support Group Airman of the Year. A Below-the-Zone promotee to Senior Airman, Jaggers' accolades continued when the MacDill Chiefs Group selected him for their Warrior Award. One night, while working the MacDill gate, he detected an intoxicated driver, searched the vehicle and seized 1.7 grams of cocaine.

AMC NCO of the Year
Tech. Sgt. Jose Ramon Jr., 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Travis AFB, Calif., is an airlift and special mission aircraft maintenance craftsman. He was the 60th Air Mobility Wing NCO of the Year. Ramon prepared the first aircraft from Travis to support Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in only six hours. The jet was loaded and en route two hours later. He also fixed the Air Force's only C-5C enabling the transport of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble telescope. Ramon led the team for a maintenance group "elephant walk" and led the group effort to launch 12 aircraft in 23 minutes.

AMC Senior NCO of the Year
Senior Master Sgt. Ernesto Rendon, 62nd Aerial Port Squadron, JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., is the unit's air freight superintendent. As a first sergeant, he managed a deployed member family crisis where he secured the spouse's medical care and returned the Airman from the overseas location all in less than 48 hours. Rendon also managed a post-suicide response and coordinated the military support, memorial service and crisis management for the family and the unit's 419 Airmen.

AMC First Sergeant of the Year
Master Sgt. Kristopher K. Green, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron, JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, has been a first sergeant since 2011. His accomplishments include preventing a suicide and being the 87th Air Base Wing First Sergeant of the Year. Following Hurricane Sandy, he recruited more than 100 volunteers to assist with local recovery efforts that strengthened community bonds.

AMC Honor Guard Member of the Year
Staff Sgt. Alexandra R. Crawley, Grand Forks AFB, N.D., is the NCO in charge of the Honor Guard. She led the training for 14 Honor Guard members and was unanimously selected as the Honor Guard's Airman of the Quarter and as the Elite Ceremonial Guardsman. In addition, officials handpicked Crawley to instruct flag etiquette at local school for more than 500 students. As the weapons manager, she strictly controlled 54 rifles and tracked 1,200 rounds of ammunition.

AMC Honor Guard Program Manager of the Year
Master Sgt. Gary Knight, JB MDL, N.J., is the NCO in charge of the Honor Guard at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. Knight trained the Honor Guard members that inspired thousands at 15 major league baseball, football and hockey games. He led a joint honor guard that honored fallen military and New Jersey police members. Knight also coordinated 20 dignified transfers at seven international airports. Knight also created an eight-day training program preparing 600 active duty and Reserve component Airmen for duty seven days faster than previous training programs. Informed of a last-minute tasking, he flawlessly rendered a same-day saber salute to the Italian Prime Minister.

AMC Honor Guard Team of the Year
The Honor Guard Team of the Year is from JB MDL, N.J. In 2012, they rendered 2,600 funeral honors and 600 civic events in their five-state area of responsibility -- the largest in the Air Force. Among the funeral honors were those rendered for eight fallen heroes and for an original Tuskegee Airman. The team also honored fallen military working dogs, which bolstered Security Forces resiliency. In the community, they participated in the Navy's Fleet Week in New York City and organized the Armed Forces Week drill and parade sequence, training 50 joint colors teams. The honor guard also sorted 900,000 pounds of supplies over seven days to speed relief to 30 townships affected by Hurricane Sandy.

AMC First Sergeant Council of the Year
The First Sergeant Council of the Year is from JB MDL, N.J. The council significantly improved the joint base quality of life through numerous events and programs. Among those were providing funds to 500 new parents, new couples and deployed spouses who were in need. They empowered an independent dorm council that reinvigorated the group. They also promoted 15 social events for deployed families by going door-to-door inviting people to attend. In advance of Hurricane Sandy, they hand delivered 6,000 MREs to dormitory residents and sustained all 574 members during the crisis. After the storm hit, they distributed $5,000 before FEMA could respond. As family liaison officers, they escorted 100 family members as they honored nine air advisors killed in action.