Southwest Asia -- Earning a promotion ahead of schedule is a goal many Airmen strive to accomplish, but only a few actually succeed. One Airman here was recently shocked to hear that she was about to become a member of the elite group.
Airman 1st Class Hannah, a Deliberate Crisis Action Planning and Execution Segment operator, reported into her commander’s office, where she thought she would be answering questions about her Situation Report to her group commander, Col. Todd Dozier.
“I was so very scared and nervous,” said Hannah. “Everybody’s face looked very stern and I really thought I was in trouble.”
As her commander announced her arrival to who she thought was her group commander, Hannah finally realized what was really going on.
“All of a sudden I hear ‘hey its Maj. Lee here’ and it was my commander from back home,” said Miles. “I was so confused and then I realized what it was for but I was in shock. I said you guys really got me, I thought I was in so much trouble.”
Hannah, currently deployed from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota and a native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania was notified over the phone by her home station commander that she has been awarded Senior Airman Below-the-zone.
“[A1C Hannah] briefed the force shaping programs for her base that normally your NCO’s would brief,” said Master Sgt. Rebecca, Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team chief. “It was also her contributions she made to support nuclear inspections they had at her home station.”
In less than 30 days [A1C Hannah] came in, learned a job she has never done before and was able to sustain her position all by herself, added Rebecca.
“It was awesome, I have not seen that before,” said Rebecca.
“BTZ was actually a goal I had coming out of basic training,” said Hannah. “I told myself I just want to set the bar high, although I knew it was something I definitely could obtain. I had faith in myself that it was possible.”
Hannah does not plan to stop at just earning BTZ. She has even higher ambitions for her future military career.
“I am definitely going to look into the commissioning programs,” said Hannah. “This is something I have thought of before I came in but I wanted to get my foot in the door first, so I came in enlisted.”
“She is very passionate about what she does,” said Rebecca. “I definitely see her doing big things. She wants to be an officer, she is driving towards that and we are definitely encouraging her to make that happen.”
When Airmen achieve any significant accomplishments there are often people who come to mind that they would like to thank. Hannah was no exception.
“I had a lot of mentors back at home station particularly, Tech. Sgt. William Kanoy,” said Hannah. “However, my unit here has been great, my commander, Maj. Charles, my superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Ryan and most importantly my biggest mentor, Master Sgt. Rebecca. “If it was not for them and their encouragement, I do not know if I would have stayed on track.”
(Editor’s note: Due to safety and security reasons, last names and unit designators were removed.)