Surrounded by heroes Published Jan. 5, 2007 By Maj. James Petrick 33d Maintenance Operations Squadron EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FL. -- During the holidays I often find myself thinking of our military members who won't be home with their families due to deployments. You may not read about these men and women or see them on TV, but rest assured...they're heroes. Heroes who have sacrificed their time, personal lives and self interests to support our great nation and our goal of eliminating terrorism. I don't have to look hard to find these warriors ... our wing is full of them. I'd like to call out a few Chargers that I consider my personal heroes. Let's start with Capt. Michael Frasco who while deployed to Afghanistan served as a convoy commander on more than 100 missions covering 5,000 miles of dangerous highway including roadways through Kabul and Kandahar. Mike also evacuated 16 Airmen from danger when riots broke out just outside of his military base. Another awesome example is Tech. Sgt. Pilar Roberts and Senior Airman Elizabeth Muckell, who while deployed to Iraq aggressively exercised the base Giant Voice System ultimately resulting in the safety of more than 6,000 US and Coalition forces. They really "Charged it up" by flight managing more than 800 combat airlift missions resulting in the movement of 3,600 passengers and 900 tons of cargo. Let's not forget Senior Master Sgt. Ken Teter who implemented new CENTAF reporting requirements to make sure that headquarters was consistently notified of logistics issues impacting combat capability. Ken really dug in and fully analyzed tanker aircraft utilization to ensure maximum effectiveness for missions supporting operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Horn of Africa. He was coined by two different squadron commanders for his brilliant efforts. I had an excellent opportunity during a recent Airman Leadership School graduation to discuss with Staff Sgt. Jeff Owens some of his accomplishments while deployed. Jeff prepared a briefing he presented to Lt. Gen. Gary North and Lockheed Martin's chief executive officer on the annual performance of combat aircraft deployed to the AOR. He also briefed the 9th Air Force Vice Commander on health of CONUS and deployed aircraft assigned to the 9th AF. He was instrumental in providing top leaders information that directly impacted combat operations. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the efforts of Senior Airman Brian Quinerly. Brian was an administration specialist assigned to the Strategic Engagement Response Center and later forward deployed to Southwest Asia. He was consistently praised for his dynamite support of the public affairs staff. He was instrumental in making sure a team of civilian translators executed their role in translating regional media. It's apparent that I'm not the only one who recognized his great job as he was coined by Army Gen. John Abizaid as a "superior performer." I don't have room in this article to recognize every squadron member who's served their country with pride during a recent deployment. However, I will take this opportunity to thank our Nomads and their families for everything they do both at home and abroad. It's evident that their efforts are making a huge impact on our important mission. It's a pleasure to serve on this awesome team. I want to wish all our Nomad Heroes a safe and happy holiday season. Charge it up!