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AFMC announces annual enlisted award winners

  • Published
  • Air Force Materiel Command Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Air Force Materiel Command announced its top enlisted Airmen of 2012 in a Commander's Log sent March 24, 2013.

Twenty-three enlisted Airmen from throughout AFMC's headquarters, centers and specialized units were nominated to compete in four separate categories -- airman, non-commissioned officer, senior NCO and first sergeant.

The winners are:

Airman Category - Senior Airman Steven Hedgepeth, Enterprise Sourcing Group, Lackland AFB, Tex. As a Contract Specialist, Hedgepeth executed 278 contract actions -- exceeding $1.7 billion -- across six countries and three contingencies, supporting contingency construction, research development, operations maintenance and architect engineering. His support to the Defense Technical Information Center ensured weapon system survivability and lethality for aircraft, ground vehicles, ships and spacecraft.

Non-Commissioned Officer Category - Tech. Sgt. Loren Cossette, 96th Test Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla. Cossette's leadership as Assistant Weapons Section Chief led to 38 Airmen completing 2,500 maintenance tasks in support of 1,900 test and training sorties. His mentorship and efforts to ready 12 programs and four flights produced three "Outstanding Performers" and secured an "Excellent" rating in AFMC's 2012 Logistics Compliance Assessment Program inspection.

Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Category - Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Warsitz, Headquarters AFMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Warsitz used his skills as a Command Production Control Functional Manager to author six training manuals outlining work processes clearing 35,000 maintenance records, fixing a six-month backlog and saving 10,000 man-hours annually. He simultaneously collected cost data from 10 locations, triggering a prime vendor contract with a projected $12 million savings.

First Sergeant Category - Master Sgt. Michelle Serrano, 88th Air Base Wing, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. As a First Sergeant, Serrano served as Operation Warm Heart's committee chair, raising more than $14,000 for base personnel. She also raised $40,000 for Heroes Welcoming Heroes and greeted 603 members returning from deployments. As the First Sergeant's Council President, Serrano ensured 32 organizations had an assigned additional duty First Sergeant.

In her message to the command's workforce, Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, AFMC commander, congratulated all the nominees and winners on a job well done.

"These award winners represent the best and brightest of our command," she said.

The four winners will go on to represent AFMC in the United States Air Force Twelve Outstanding Airmen of the Year and First Sergeant of the Year competitions held later this year.