General surprises sergeant who stepped up

Published April 28, 2011
By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
451 AEW Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Not everyone has a boss who travels across continents to tell them what a great job they're doing.

Staff Sergeant Scott Richard deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, to Kandahar Airfield. When the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, General Mark Welsh, visited the Airfield, Richard was told that as a USAFE Airman, he would be attending a dinner April 27. He did not, however, expect to be singled out by the general.

"Is Sergeant Richards here?" the general asked the room.

The staff sergeant walked to the front of the room and was bewildered when the general announced his wife was on the phone. Then the rest of his office shuffled into the dining room.

"I thought he was going to give me a coin, or tell me my next assignment," reflected Richards.

Over the cellphone, the general told Richard's wife what she'd learned a few minutes earlier, standing in an office in RAF Lakenheath, and what the rest of the safety office in Kandahar had kept secret for the past month- that he was being promoted.

Now a technical sergeant, Richard clapped his hand over his mouth and his face began to flush bright red. The general handed him the phone for a few minutes of conversation with his wife, until he and Command Chief Master Sgt. David Williamson punched the new rank onto his sleeves. Finally, Richard saluted the general and squeezed through the handshaking crowd of the dining room to the door. His office spilled out after him and pulled him into hugs. A few pounded their fists into the new stripes on his arms. His face was bright red, but beaming.

"Things happen that are bigger than you, and you may not know what's going on, but you have faith in your leadership," he said.

Richard's promotion was an absolute surprise because it was a STEP promotion. The program allows high-performing Airmen to progress. Sergeant Richard said his promotion package listed hard work he'd done over several deployments, often filling master sergeant positions or completing investigations that would otherwise have been done at much higher levels.

At Kandahar, Sergeant Richard is the Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of ground safety, the fire marshal for the 451st AEW and is responsible for mishap investigations.

"He's a really good troop," said Richard's KAF supervisor, Master Sgt. Roderick George. "He makes my job easy."

Sergeant George did not work directly on the promotion package, but helped keep it a secret.

"Still, it doesn't seem real," Sergeant Richard added, glancing down at the new stripes on his sleeve.

To make it official, he said that he and his wife plan to have a barbecue to celebrate the promotion when he returns to RAF Lakenheath. They may invite a few British neighbors over and it may double as a welcome home party.

Although the promotion was a wonderful surprise, he'll get to plan the celebration himself.