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Forty-seven graduate from Tinker Airman Leadership School

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Airman Leadership School

Forty-four Airmen, two Sailors and Tinker’s first civilian graduated from Tinker’s Airman Leadership School recently.

Class 18-E graduates are:

 

137th Special Operations Mission Support Group     

Senior Airman Jacquilynn Krois

       

507th Medical Squadron        

Senior Airman Ashley Davis-Reyes

 

513th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

Senior Airman Elizabeth Jennings

       

546th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron

Senior Airman Taylor Mclean

 

552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron

Senior Airman Nikalus Mendoza

Senior Airman William Bianconi      

Senior Airman Austin Mccooley, Distinguished Graduate

Senior Airman Shawnses Adisa

Senior Airman Miles Link

Senior Airman Matthew Smith         

Senior Airman Trevor Estep

Senior Airman Richard Cornett III, Distinguished Graduate

Senior Airman Patrick Mcmorris

Senior Airman Mitchell Phillips       

Senior Airman Nicholas Rosa

       

552nd Maintenance Group

Senior Airman Cedric Gilreath

 

552nd Maintenance Squadron

Senior Airman Jordan Pontius

Senior Airman Christian Duncan      

Senior Airman Ryan Furnish

Senior Airman David Blue

Senior Airman Julia Bussey

Senior Airman Marc Briggs  

Senior Airman Thomas Vanhooser

Senior Airman Christopher Parker    

Senior Airman Kyle Skitka

Senior Airman Tucker Binegar         

 

552nd Operations Support Squadron

Senior Airman Benjamin Graubner   

 

552nd Training Squadron

Staff Sgt. Billy Webb Jr.

 

72nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron

Senior Airman Kristina Song, Leadership Award, Distinguished Graduate and Sharp Image Award

 

72nd Air Base Wing

Equal Opportunity Specialist Kimberly Moses

       

72nd Force Support Squadron

Senior Airman Nicole Manaroinsong

 

72nd Medical Operations Squadron

Senior Airman Sarah Thornberry

       

72nd Operations Support Squadron

Senior Airman Brandon Feister        

Senior Airman Robert Levens, John L. Levitow Award

 

72nd Security Forces Squadron

Senior Airman Emily Chanthavong   

Senior Airman Brian Weaver, Academic Achievement Award and Distinguished Graduate

Senior Airman Caleb Beverly

Senior Airman Shelby Stiegler

Senior Airman Dillon Farrell

Senior Airman Grace Ibrahim

 

963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron

Staff Sgt. Chelsea Gallardo

 

966th Airborne Air Control Squadron

Senior Airman Christopher Williams

Senior Airman Eric Huster

Senior Airman Shannon Williamson, Freedom Citation Award Winner

 

Air Force Flight Standards Agency Headquarters

Senior Airman Noah Griffin

 

Strategic Communications Wing ONE

Petty Officer 2nd Class Diego Delgado

 

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 4

Petty Officer 3rd Class Emiliano Lopez



 

Freedom citation: The price of freedom

Senior Airman Shannon Williamson

966th Airborne Air Control Squadron

What is freedom?

Freedom means different things to different people. It is a question with various answers rooted in everything from personal experiences and moral code, to lifestyle and upbringing. 

Thomas Jefferson had the simplest answer: “the pursuit of happiness.”

To me, freedom means having the power and right to act, speak and think freely without subjection or reprisal from the state. It means to be secure in my person, my property and my prosperity without subjected overreach.

To me, freedom means having the ability to determine my own destiny with personal responsibility. It means having an opportunity and living in a reality that millions around the world will never know and that it should not be taken for granted.

I make it a personal point to always remember that the opportunities I have and the experiences I’ve had as an American were not afforded to me simply as a matter of birth. The opportunities afforded to me have come at a price I cannot repay.

Though I feel that many individuals take what they have for granted in terms of what they can do, I implore everyone to recall history and remember that everything we have – all the rights and opportunities afforded to us  – are only possible because of those who came before us and laid the foundation for liberty.

Ronald Reagan said it best when he said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

The price of freedom is high and it is a price that only a select few are willing to pay. Those select few carry the title of veteran. A veteran is someone who at one point, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States and her citizens in the amount of, and up to including their life. To me, freedom means the ability to defend and secure not only my own prosperity and pursuit of happiness, but that of my fellow countrymen as well, so that they and the next generation can know the same freedom that we have today. This, we’ll defend.