436th SFS reins in three AMC awards

by Airman 1st Class William Johnson
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

12/9/2014 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- The 436th Security Force Squadron is no stranger to winning awards and 2014 was another year in which the squadron was recognized. Three individual Air Mobility Command level awards were hauled in by three of Team Dover's defenders.

The 436th SFS Airmen went up against 14 other AMC bases and won awards in the Outstanding Security Forces Flight Level NCO, Outstanding Security Forces Support Staff Airman and the Outstanding Security RAVEN Team Leader categories.

Senior Airman Joli Franicevich, 436th SFS supply custodian, won the Outstanding Security Forces Support Staff Airman award. As an Airman, Franicevich holds a NCO in charge position and manages more than $12 million worth of deployable assets.

"I was surprised and shocked when I found out that I won," said Franicevich. "Other than my family, this squadron is a huge support system for me. My leadership and co-workers are definitely the reason why I got any sort of recognition and I can't thank them enough."

The 436th SFS Raven section was also recognized by AMC and Staff Sgt. Shane Howard, 436th SFS Phoenix Raven team leader, won the Outstanding Security Forces RAVEN Team Leader award.

Phoenix Ravens are teams of specially trained security forces personnel that provide armed security for AMC aircrafts as they transit to high terrorist and criminal threat areas.

One of Howard's deployments to Southwest Asia resulted in 23 missions that safeguarded $60 billion worth of Department of Defense assets, 2.3 million pounds of cargo and security for 3,000 personnel.

"There are a lot of Raven team leads around the Air Force that are doing some amazing work so for me to be selected was a shock and a honor," said Howard. "Everybody in this section has been working extremely hard this entire year. This group of Ravens has been phenomenal at working whenever we're called to and I think that helped a lot with me winning this award."

The Military Working Dog section also brought home an AMC award and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Lewis, now assigned to the 802nd SFS at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, won the Outstanding Security Force Flight Level award while he was assigned to the 436th SFS as a MWD handler.

Lewis developed the K-9 Random Anti-terrorism Measure program that helped secure 67 aircraft and $10 billion in combat assets.

Lewis said he was surprised to be recognized with such high honors and wanted to thank his first Kennel Master at Dover AFB, Tech. Sgt. Ryan Walker, for molding him into the Airman he is today and for changing his outlook on the Air Force.

"My fellow MWD handlers helped me out tremendously to win this award," said Lewis. "I really owe this accomplishment to my chain of command within the 436th SFS for allowing me the opportunities to accomplish the things that I did."

All three award winners will now go forward to compete at the Air Force level for their respective categories.