Niagara Airman earns local, command scholarships

by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Caya
914th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

3/5/2013 - NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, N.Y. -- A 914th Airlift Wing Airman was recently awarded the Air Force Reserve Command Total Force Top Three Academic Scholarship and the 914th Chief's Group Scholarship.

Senior Airman Travis Packard, a material management technician in the 914th Logistics Readiness Squadron, was selected as the most deserving candidate of the $500 scholarship by the AFRC Total Force Top Three Committee. Prior to this he was awarded $700 from the 914th Chief's Group Scholarship.

"It's impressive that we have Airmen that can communicate their thoughts, plans, as well as ambitions and be able to put that down on paper. Being able to do that makes them very competitive," said 914th AW Command Chief Master Sgt. Scott Scharlau.

"Obviously Airman Packard did phenomenal by winning scholarships at the local level and then went on to win the Top Three Scholarship, so that's fantastic," added the Chief.

Packard said he applied for the Top Three scholarship after seeing an announcement in the 914th Force Support Squadron publication, "The Loop."

"More people should apply for these scholarships," said Packard; mentioning that his winning essay did not take him a very long time to produce. "There is no reason not to apply for them."

Packard said he feels great to have won these scholarships and will use the funds to pay for his books, which he said can be pricey as he is pursuing a biology degree at D'Youville College in Buffalo, NY, with the aspiration to be a physician's assistant.