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AETC announces 2010 OAY award winners

  • Published
  • By Dianne Moffett
  • AETC public affairs
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Air Education and Training Command announced the 2010 Outstanding Airman of the Year recipients on March 18. Nine Airmen were selected out of 25 nominees.

The nine Airmen will go onto compete in the Air Force wide competition.

The categories and winners are:

Military Trainer of the Year: Tech. Sgt. Julie D. De Priest, 323rd Training Squadron master military training instructor, Lackland AFB.

Military Training Leader of the Year: Master Sgt. Anthony Fisher, 81st Training Group superintendent of military training, Keesler AFB.

Recruiter of the Year: Staff Sgt. Megan Stanton, 313th Recruiting Squadron enlisted accessions recruiter, Long Island, N.Y.

Honor Guard Member of the Year: Staff Sgt. Chris B. Hill, Air Force Recruiting Service database administrator, Randolph AFB.

Honor Guard Manager of the Year: Tech Sgt. Jeffery Randolph, 14th Operations Support Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge, Columbus AFB.

Airman of the Year: Senior Airman Shaun Houser, 56th Comptroller Squadron finance budge analyst, Luke AFB.

NCO of the Year: Staff Sgt. Christopher Ferrell, 366th Training Squadron explosive ordinance disposal instructor, Eglin AFB.

Senior NCO of the Year: Senior Master Sgt. Kathleen "Katie" McCool, Air Force Recruiting Service superintendent recruiter, Randolph AFB.

First Sergeant of the Year: Senior Master Sgt. Mauree C. Powell, Air University HQ first sergeant, Maxwell AFB.

The annual Outstanding Airman Program recognizes Airman and their accomplishments in their military career. The program's focus is on the Airman's superior performance and their positive contribution to the Air Force and Community.

Each nominee is chosen by their command on Leadership and Job Performance, Significant Self-Improvement, and Base or Community Involvement. The Airmen must also meet standard in dress and appearance, and a score of 75 or more on their physical fitness test.

Maintaining a positive and professional attitude and to always do your best was an initial motivator for all 25 nominees.

Sergeant De Priest said she always strives for perfection, "My advice to other Airmen would be to remember the standards you learned early on in your career and to constantly work hard to exceed those standards. Never accept mediocrity or think that something is 'good enough'--always strive for perfection."

That attitude was not lost by AETC Command Chief Master Sgt. James A. Cody. Chief Cody concurred, "By just spending time with these 25 nominees, I can tell the future of the Air Force is in good hands. Getting to know them and hearing their stories was inspiring.

"Selecting the winners from this group of Airmen was a hard thing to do. Anyone of them could easily be the winner in my eyes," said the chief. "All of these Airmen are truly outstanding and we all should strive to match their level of performance."