AROUND TINKER: 72nd ABW members honored with Wildcatter Awards Published July 1, 2016 By Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Three members of the 72nd Operations Support Squadron were recently honored with Wildcatter Awards by 72nd Air Base Wing Commander Col. Stephanie Wilson. Ashley Buxbaum has performed her duties as an Airfield Management Operations coordinator since November 2012. The enthusiasm, sense of pride and professionalism she displays daily contributes directly to the operational readiness and mission success for Tinker AFB. Ms. Buxbaum continually strives to streamline processes to improve the unit's efficiency while maintaining a safe airfield operating environment. Her communication skills are exceptional for a position which requires her to coordinate with aircrew, aircraft maintainers, distinguished visitors and all levels of installation leadership. Frequently, her professionalism is documented on aircrew surveys where she is mentioned by name for exceptional service; enabling Airfield Management to maintain an impressive 5.9 out of 6.0 rating. Most recently, her quick response and decision making during an unauthorized airfield breach by a vehicle resulted in no additional damage to Air Force assets and furthermore, she assisted Security Forces in locating the vehicle. Capt. Adam Bennett has served as the Weather Flight commander since his arrival in December 2012. As the installation's lead for meteorological forecasting, his weather team is often tested by Oklahoma's diverse weather conditions and is responsible for the accurate and timely advising of installation leadership about severe weather condition impacts. In 2015, he represented the 72nd ABW while deployed for six months as the Weather Flight commander at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates. In this capacity, he supported more than 5,000 combat sorties supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. Since February 2016 and under his ever guiding leadership, the Weather Flight is engaged voluntarily in an Air Force Headquarters-level Proof of Concept initiative focused on the potential decentralization of weather forecasting from established regional Weather Hubs to local base weather stations. Continued proven success in this initiative could lead to a significant restructure of Air Force Weather organization and procedures. Lastly, his team recently upgraded Tinker's first Weather 3-level in more than 15 years. This accomplishment was a result of almost a year of training program development and execution to upgrade his Airmen to a qualified Weather specialist. Since his enlistment into the Air Force, Airman 1st Class Parker Reid has quickly established himself as a well-rounded leader and mentor. In tech school, he was the only Airman that earned two "ropes" which identify Airmen in student leader positions. He served as a black rope/drill team leader and a teal rope, SAPR representative, important positions where he directly led and mentored Airmen. Airman Reid arrived at Tinker in May 2014 as an air traffic control apprentice. After arriving here, Airman Reid took on a rigorous and stressful training workload in a demanding career field, all while maintaining a 96 percent average on every fitness score. He initially stood up the squadron's "active shooter" program and serves as the alternate Unit Fitness Program Monitor. Both programs were rated "highly effective" in inspections and almost absent of discrepancies. In addition to excelling at his training and within his squadron, A1C Reid is also a strong community-minded Airman. He volunteers with the Oklahoma City "Big Brother" program and is also an active member of his church community. In addition to his achievements, what really sets Airman Reid apart is his resiliency. After experiencing a traumatic, double-tragedy within his family, and overcoming some challenges resulting from this, he continues to move forward and strive for nothing but excellence. He is the epitome of evolution in growth and character, and is well respected by those who know him for his desire to overcome challenge and succeed.