5 Airmen, 2 civilians recognized at annual awards ceremony

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Ray Bowden
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  More than 350 Incirlik Airmen, civilians and special guests gathered at the wing's consolidated club Saturday evening to attend the 2007 Annual Awards Ceremony where five Airmen and two civilians were selected from a pool of 40 nominees and recognized for their efforts.

Lt. Gen. Maurice "Lee" McFann Jr., Commander, Allied Air Component Command Headquarters Izmir and Commander, 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force, United States Air Forces in Europe, was the event's guest speaker. General McFann was accompanied by his wife, Debbie McFann.

The enlisted members who received awards were Senior Airman Nolan Palazola, 39th Security Forces Squadron, Airman of the Year, Tech. Sgt. Crystal Trevino, 39th Medical Group, Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, Master Sgt. Thomas Daniels, 39th Security Forces, Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and Master Sergeant Wendy Brazier, 425th Air Base Group, First Sergeant of the Year.

Capt. Shane McCammon, 39th Air Base Wing Staff Agency was selected as Company Grade Officer of the Year.

Incirlik civilians who received awards were Shara Sever, 39th Mission Support Group, honored as Category One Civilian of the Year and Filiz de Vette, 39th Air Base Wing Staff Agency, selected as Category Two Civilian of the Year.

Sergeant Daniels said he was surprised to receive his award.

"I'm surprised and humbled. I have six guys on my team who deserve this recognition," he said. "I need to find a way to break [the award] into seven pieces and give one piece to each member of my team."

Captain McCammon shares Sergeant Daniel's view that a team of productive professionals is behind every award winner.

"This award is a reflection of what our team did as a whole. It's an honor to be able to bring it back to the office," he said.

Sergeant Brazier was the sole member of a geographically separated unit to be recognized.

"We're all one team here," she said, "But it's nice to win something that casts a focus on Izmir."

After congratulating the award winners, Col. Phil McDaniel, 39th Air Base Wing commander, praised the efforts of the 28 Airmen and 5 civilians who comprised the rest of the nominees, referring to them all as "winners."

"It's easy to congratulate the winners, but the nominees in this audience are also winners. Your efforts directly contribute to our ongoing success," he said.

After the ceremony, General McFann said Incirlik's long history of "going above and beyond mission requirements" has resulted in a tightly knit group of Air Forces specialists.

"Everyone here deserves recognition, I'm sure," he said. "It's great to share in tonight's festivities and in the abundance of morale Incirlik has forged," he said.

The theme of the awards ceremony was "53 Years of Excellence."