Peterson first shirt is tops in AFRC

by Master Sgt. Daniel Butterfield
302nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

1/2/2014 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Anthony, 302nd Maintenance Squadron, is the top first sergeant for Air Force Reserve Command for 2012.

When Anthony is not working as a Reservist for the 302nd AW, he is a police officer for the City of Fountain, Colo., where he is a patrol corporal and serves on the SWAT team and supervises the K-9 team. Being an AF Reserve first sergeant and a police officer might seem far removed from each other, but Anthony says they complement each other all the time.

"I've been able to dissolve a potentially hostile situation by building quick rapport solely based on my flat top and military service. I have used communication skills developed as a police officer to talk to Airmen, resolve disagreements but more importantly to keep an objective opinion," said Anthony.

Another area where Anthony shines is his community involvement. During 2012's Waldo Canyon fire, he volunteered 50 hours of his time to help evacuees. He was named a 2012 Community Hero by the Fountain Valley Foundation, started the Fountain Police Department's first ever Honor Guard and helped to provide 29 underprivileged local children with a better Christmas with his involvement with the "Shop with a Cop" fundraiser.

Anthony, who returned from a Southwest Asia deployment recently, understands it can be difficult to balance family, work and Reserve duty, but knows, to excel, you have to go above and beyond the norms.

"Be involved and know what you need to do to be prepared for the next step in your career. Being a reservist and balancing a separate career and a family is no small task. To ask someone to go above the standard and set the bar higher may not seem 'fair.' You have peers that are hungry and applying themselves to "check all the boxes" and then checking some more to set themselves apart. When enough people check the extra boxes, guess what, a new standard is born. If it's not you setting the standard, someone else will," added Anthony.