JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas – Eight Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center members recently earned 2021 Air Force Civil Engineer Award honors.
“The winners, runners-up and nominees represent the best of the Civil Engineer community's incredible talent and dedication,” said Maj. Gen. Tom Wilcox, AFIMSC commander.
Seven winners are with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, a primary subordinate unit of AFIMSC, and the eighth winner is with AFIMSC’s Detachment 4.
“It feels incredible to be recognized for the hard work over the past year and to highlight all the fantastic work being accomplished at the Joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal program office,” said Master Sgt. Timothy I. Donnan, the Joint Explosive Ordnance Material Intelligence Section Chief for the AFCEC Readiness Directorate at Indian Head, Maryland.
Donnan, is the 2021 Maj. Gen. William D. Gilbert Award winner in the enlisted Airman category. The Gilbert award is given for outstanding performance and exemplary service.
According to his nomination package, Donnan helped the Joint EOD Technology Division make significant headway in creating Joint EOD technical manuals to support the 4,500 Joint EOD technicians worldwide during the award period. The division is helping to develop and advance future technology to support the EOD enterprise and the National Defense Strategy.
The 2021 Brig. Gen. James B. Newman, Jr. Medal winner is Charles Meshako, AFIMSC Det. 4 Civil Engineer Division chief at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The award, given by the Society of American Military Engineers, honors outstanding contributions in military engineering by a civilian or active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force.
Meshako and his team play a key role in the European Deterrence Initiative with military construction investments throughout Europe.
“Not only is this infrastructure being used for current operations, it also serves to reassure host nations of our commitments, and the process of executing the construction helped strengthen our relationships with those countries,” said Meshako.
“To me, it is really a recognition of the work that the team has done here in Europe,” Meshako added.
The AFECE Environmental Restoration Program PFOS/PFOA team at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, are winners of the Gen. Thomas D. White Environmental Award. The six-person team of Bill Barry, Jens Christenson, Rita Krebs, John McCune, Kate Need and Kevin Tarleton successfully managed 11 projects by partnering with key stakeholders and government entities, including a partnership with the South Dakota Ellsworth Development Authority to implement the non-time critical removal action recommendation to design and construct a new $17 million community water system, an alternative water source to properties affected by PFOS/PFOA releases without properties being annexed into any municipality.
“So many ERP teams are doing great things and are challenged by many of the same issues across the Air Force,” said Krebs, a remedial project manager at Ellsworth. “We are truly honored to be recognized in this way!”
In addition to award winners, several AFIMSC members were also selected as runner ups for the CE enterprise-wide awards.
Master Sgt. Colby Nokes, an EOD craftsman with AFCEC’s Readiness Directorate in Indian Head, Maryland, EOD MasterBlaster of the Year award runner up.
Jeremy Gutierrez, chief of the Civil Engineer Maintenance Inspection Repair Team with AFCEC’s Operations Directorate at Tyndall AFB, Florida, Harry P. Reitman Award runner up.
Lori Burnam, an AFCEC environmental restoration program manager at Moody AFB, Georgia, White environmental award runner up.