Forty-two Airmen recently graduated from Tinker’s Airman Leadership School.
Graduates are:
124th Intelligence Squadron
Senior Airman Richard Sheldon
158th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Caitlyn Durant
158th Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman David Streeter
178th Security Forces Squadron
Senior Airman Andrew Wilush
507th Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Michael Hager
507th Operations Support Squadron
Senior Airman Sabrina Selby
552nd Air Control Networks Squadron
Staff Sergeant Philip Hendricks
Staff Sergeant Austin Terry, Leadership Award
552nd Air Control Wing
Staff Sergeant Jonathan Lay
552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Gary Altman
Senior Airman Andrew Croft
Senior Airman Austin Ours
Senior Airman Layton Sims
552nd Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Drake Allen, Distinguished Graduate
Senior Airman Blake Crider, Academic Achievement Award
Senior Airman Cam Hawkins
Senior Airman Andres Leandro
Senior Airman Alex Lown
Senior Airman Matthew Orton
552nd Operations Group
Senior Airman Casandra Palomares
72nd Comptroller Squadron
Senior Airman Hannes Marschalek
72nd Force Support Squadron
Senior Airman Christian Lucas
72nd Medical Support Squadron
Senior Airman Taylor Dawson
72nd Operations Medical Readiness Squadron
Senior Airman John Gomez Betancur
72nd Operations Support Squadron
Senior Airman Kelsi Carney, Distinguished Graduate
72nd Security Forces Squadron
Senior Airman Brandon Perez
Senior Airman Matthew Baldwin
Senior Airman Joshua King
Senior Airman Stephan Miron
Senior Airman Amanda Simoncelli
960th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Staff Sergeant Jay Eggleston
Senior Airman Jordan Smithson
963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Jeremy Fu, Freedom Citation
Senior Airman Jerrold Vitalich
964th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Joseph Buckley
Staff Sergeant Rollin Fitton
Senior Airman Jacob Sellers
Staff Sergeant Jonathan Washington, John L. Levitow Award
965th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Kinnick Fox
966th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Melvin Alvarez
Senior Airman Durhma Tran, Distinguished Graduate
Air Force Sustainment Center
Senior Airman Sarah Brackner
What freedom means to me
Senior Airman Jeremy Fu
963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron
Freedom means choices, the potential to make choices and the ability to act. It is something that comes so naturally to some of us that we do not realize it is not a universal standard. Wherever you look, freedom can be found in every aspect of life whether you perceive it or not.
Freedom is a balance. It has been, and will be, paid for by those who came before us and those who succeed us. I am able to give this speech solely due to the sacrifices my family has made for me.
I was born in the Republic of China, or as it is colloquially known, Taiwan - not the communist China that is the People’s Republic of China. I actually come from a line of military men, but I am the first to serve in the U.S. military.
My father was a sharpshooter in the Taiwanese army. He spent his conscription stationed on the remote island of Kinmen. At the time, the Cold War was still ongoing and the invasion from Communist China was very real. While it might be seen as a gallant display of patriotism to serve and defend your country, my father did not have the choice, and neither would I, had I stayed.
I’ve known my mother as a loving caretaker and a devoted housewife my entire life. She gave up everything for me. She was in the fashion industry before having me. Once I was in the picture, she put everything aside despite her dream of being a world traveler. I do not have enough words to describe the appreciation I owe her.
The Asian educational system is strict, but also linear. Starting from as early as middle school, your academic performance, as well as the school you are in, pigeonholes you into certain colleges and fields. Understanding this, my mother made the biggest decision of her life and moved us to the United States when I was 12 years old. My father did not follow us, opting to only visit from time to time. But she was undeterred and only thought of me. She gave me my future by sacrificing hers.
My grandfather was a brigadier general in the Republic of China military. Born in 1919 in mainland China, he fought the Japanese occupation during the second Sino-Japanese War. Most of you will know it as the Pacific Theater of World War II. When the United States officially joined the war, we were fighting to prevent what might be lost; but my grandfather was fighting to recover what had already been lost, and it was paid with a heavy price.
During my early years, I remember seeing a display case he had with some of his military memorabilia. One item caught my eye, a small piece of paper that had a cartoonish tiger with wings on it. It was the flying tiger insignia. Unbeknownst to me, that would be my first introduction to the Air Force.
After the war, he continued his service as an intelligence officer. The overseas threat was over, but a domestic threat had been growing from within. He spent the next four years, again, fighting for his way of life against the communist uprising led by Mao Zedong, until December of 1949 when the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan. He spent the rest of his career preparing for the counter-attack for the mainland or the invasion of communists, neither of which ever came. He was my biggest inspiration for joining the U.S. Air Force.
Not just my family, but many that have come before sacrificed their future, their own freedom and their lives just so I could be here to enlist in the Air Force and hopefully pay it forward.