TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The 327th ASW 2007 Employees of the Year were announced at a reception held on Jan 25 at the Base Chapel in the Fellowship Hall. The 327th ASW would like to thank all our nominees and their supervisors for taking the time to submit the nominations and send special congratulations to all our winners.
   GS-5-7: Damaris Brandt, from the 827th Aircraft Sustainment Group, is a Management Analyst in the KC-135 Mission Support flight. She is dedicated, determined and driven and provides outstanding support to the C/KC-135 System Program Office. She superbly implemented a web-based Defense Travel System into program office operations. She averted a crisis after a no-notice personnel move and took on the unit awards program in mid-stream and made it look easy. Ms. Brandt is enrolled in a pre-law course at a local community college. She volunteers for the Salvation Army as a project representation and provides Christmas stockings to needy Oklahoma City children.
   GS-8-11: Tony Ruble, from the 747th ACSG, is a production management specialist in the E-3 Squadron. He is a one-man shop. He successfully accomplished all depot management responsibilities, doing the work of three people. He was the single approval point for over and above expenditures of non-negotiated depot work and watchdog of $1.4 million. He chaired the E-3 scheduling integrated process team responsible for scheduling a $98 million depot maintenance program. He is an active wingman and has utilized his expertise and experience to provide frequent mentorship to follow co-workers. He attended both online and night school courses in order to obtain his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. He makes a difference everyday in the community by being actively involved in the Youth Ministry at Life Church.tv.
GS-12-15: Crystal Boston, from 827th ACSG, is a budget analyst for the C/KC-135 program. She is warfighter focused and was selected as the 2007 Tinker Air Force Base Resource Advisor of the Year. Her intense coordination netted $9 million in global war on terror funds. She secured a $50,000 global war on terror reimbursement of temporary duty costs, incurred by recovering deployed and damaged C/KC-135s. She developed a benchmark overtime request process for engineers solving warfighter technical assistance requests. She is recognized for her people development skills and has mentored four college interns recruited for developmental programs. She is an Air Force Reserve Officer assigned to the center Financial Management Office as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee. Her peers elected her vice president of the American Society of Military Comptrollers local chapter.
   Rookie of the Year: Kenneth Wood, from 827th ACSG, is a logistics management specialist and is the premier leader for the KC-135 Weapon System. He is combat-focused and his outstanding efforts increased the KC-135 aircraft availability in support of contingency operations. He achieved a 21 percent reduction in not mission capable aircraft and provided 2.5 additional aircraft to the warfighter from FY06. Mr. Wood is a G081 expert and provided training to fellow employees and Wing Weapon System Supply Chain Management personnel. He is the go-to expert for difficult projects and is always ready to jump in and help -- no task is too difficult; no suspense is too short. He mentors young athletes in a 13 and under competitive baseball league and took teams to the World Series the last five years. He works with teenagers at church and teaches outdoor survival skills and first aid to the youth.
   Administrative/Clerical: Brenda Harper, from 327th ACSG, is the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Group secretary. She is always professional and has a great attitude. She is a recognized expert for the B-52's and supports 100 plus contractors, military and civilian personnel. She planned and executed over 15 high-level visits and the accolades never stop from senior leaders. She assisted in the orchestration of the Secretary of Defense's B-52 Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Certification event at Edwards Air Force Base. She has boundless energy, commitment and selflessness and consistently serves as back up to wing front office support. She is the point of contact for the Group on all wing social activities, group picnics and holiday parties. She is a key component to the group social functions and morale committee. She selflessly supports the annual B-52 Clothe-a-Kid drive and aided in raising $3.6k to clothe 24 local kids.
   Staff/Action Officer: Rita Johnson, from 327th ACSG, is a management analyst in the B-52 Commander's Action Group.
   She provides outstanding leadership and is always professional. She consistently delivers stellar products on time no matter the task. She provides critical support to the 327th Aircraft Sustainment Group Commanders, ensuring supportability of an $8 billion fleet. Rita prepared the script and schedule for the Secretary of the Air Force and distinguished visitor's at the nationally publicized B-52 Fischer-Tropsch Certification.
   Ms. Johnson orchestrated three CPR/AED training sessions for the entire group and prepared herself and group for emergencies. She directs the group Clothe-a-Kid drive and helped raise $3,600 to clothe 24 kids and provided Christmas gifts for each child. She is a community leader and is an assistant Cub Scout Den Leader, Sunday school teacher and leader of local school fundraisers.
   Company Grade Officer Category: Capt. Rhonda Mitchell, from 727th ACSG, is the C-26 Deputy Program Manager. She stepped up and executed a C-26 role that never existed before and successfully satisfied a 100 percent increase in operation requirements. She sustained the Air National Guard Global War on Terror deployment, which was critical to U.S. Special Operations Command Task Force operations. She facilitated movement of 300-plus spare parts to the central command area of responsibility and maintained support to classified missions. She orchestrated resolution of continuous MICAP issues and provided a non-stop effort to keep the aircraft flying. She completed the Advanced Acquisition Program with Naval Post-Graduate School. She is a Tinker Air Force Base Community leader; she was the Committee Chair of the 2007 Dining Out and also an escort for local political leaders. She assisted a local school's Thanksgiving holiday drive collecting food and household items for needy families.
   Noncommissioned Officer Category: Tech. Sgt. Christopher Williams, from 747th ACSG, is assigned to the E-3 Squadron. He performed critical senior noncommissioned officer duties and managed ten 423 million dollar mission essential kits and sustained 33 E-3 aircraft worth $8 billion. He chaired the Readiness Spares Package review and prepared a 48-month forecast with buy-kits and ensured readiness. He supplied 35 missions capable parts valued at $1.5 million to Test System-3 and sustained a critical test schedule. Tech. Sgt. Williams studied the 208-page 'Lincoln on Leadership' to improve decision-making and leadership abilities. He devoted 35-plus hours as a Tinker Air Force Base Honor Guard member. And volunteered to help the "Feed the Children" program. He filled and wrapped two thousand plus toy baskets for local youth. Tech. Sgt. Williams has also served as test proctor and tutor for 55 students at a local elementary. 
   Individual Mobilization Augmentee Officer Category: Maj. Jim Pappas, from 827th ACSG, displayed visionary leadership and crucial technical expertise for the C/KC-135 fleet. He deployed to Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan and led a 22-person team to salvage and remove damaged KC-135s. Success of this mission freed a critical area of responsibility ramp space in a politically and strategically important region. He is truly an 'outside of the box' thinker and fixed problems that others in the squadron missed. He has a superb attitude and willingness to contribute to the Air Force mission and the KC-135 weapon system. Maj. Pappas provides valuable mentoring to junior engineers and describes real-world impact engineers have on readiness. He coaches 7-8 year old boys baseball and basketball teams sponsored by the 'upwards' program.
   Individual Mobilization Augmentee Enlisted Category: Senior Master Sgt. John Toole, from 747th ACSG, executed an aggressive program to accelerate low observable improvements and enhanced the warfighter stance. He developed a management tool to track funding for engineering projects and ensured funding was properly justified. He worked with performance based logistics strategy to understand its feasibility in application to the B-2A. He volunteered for a deployment to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and was assigned as the Operations Superintendent over 94 Airmen. He assertively led essential low observable modifications, projected to increase aircraft availability by 2.0 aircraft per year. As an IMA Supply Management Superintendent, his unique blend of knowledge and experience in logistics expands his ability to support the nation's premier weapon system and provides accurate and timely answers to major issues. Senior Master Sgt. Toole is a highly respected peer and mentor at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center.
   Team Category: E-4 Parts Review Board from 727th ACSG -- team members are Mark Ward, Julie Prince and Jay Baker.
   The E-4 team members "championed" an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiative. They identified at least 100 examples of buying too much stock that will never be used in our commercial supply. They designed, flowcharted and published a 10-step process to be validated initially with a prototype effort. They prototyped the new Just in Time process on a known repair problem and discovered by providing more technical data to the supplier, then 'leaned' turn around time from 24 to 5 months. They aggressively took advantage o f additional benefits that identified 30 million dollars worth of needed parts.
   The 327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing would also like to wish our nominees good luck during the upcoming competition at the Team Tinker Banquet: 
327th ASW 2007 Civilian of the Year Nominees:
   Category 2--GS 5-7: Damaris Brandt/827th ACSG 
   Category 3--GS 8-11: Tony Ruble/747th ACSG 
   Category 4--GS 12-15: Crystal Boston/827th ACSG 
   Category 5--Rookie of the Year: Kenneth Wood/827th ACSG 
   Category 6--Administrative/Clerical: Brenda Harper/327th ACSG