Demon first shirt wins first place Published April 30, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Bryan Franks 33d Fighter Wing Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- During Air Combat Command annual awards banquet April 14, ACC named Senior Master Sgt. Scott Delveau, 728th Air Control Squadron's first sergeant, ACC's First Sergeant of the Year for 2007. However, Sergeant Delveau was not in attendance. Instead, he was sleeping in his "pod" at Balad Air Base, Iraq, deployed with the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron for the second time in less than a year. "I guess it was around 5:30 a.m. or so," Sergeant Delveau said. "Colonel Handy, [33d Fighter Wing Commander] had worked it out for my unit commander to bang on the door about the same time as he called. It was orchestrated well and definitely caught me off guard. As a first sergeant, no calls or banging on your door while you are sleeping are ever good. This obviously was the exception to the rule!" Sergeant Delveau said he was honored being named ACC's top first sergeant, but shocked because of the stiff competition. "All the first sergeants I know work very hard, so I really don't think I did anything different than they did," he said. Being recognized as ACC's first sergeant of the year is a first for Sergeant Delveau, but he said the real recognition is when he receives e-mails from past and present Airmen congratulating him on the award. "Their congratulatory e-mails hit home more than the actual award," he said. Some of Sergeant Delveau's accomplishments include arranging more than 70 college-level course tests for deployed Airmen, establishing a noncommissioned officer professional development course for 45 Airmen at Balad AB and leading the construction of more than 300 bunkbeds for deployed personnel. Sergeant Delveau said the biggest difference being a first sergeant while deployed versus back home is the indirect fires and dangers associated with being in a combat zone. "Our number one job is making sure our folks are as safe as possible," he said. "There are thousands of military personnel outside the wire putting their lives on the line every day. They should be the ones getting the recognition." Sergeant Delveau will now go on and compete at the Air Force level for first sergeant of the year.