26 graduate from Tinker’s Airman Leadership School

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Twenty-five Airmen and one Sailor graduated from Tinker's Airman Leadership School March 31.

Graduates and award winners are:

Air Force Sustainment Center
Senior Airman Nicholas Hazelett, Freedom Citation Award

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron FOUR
Petty Officer 3rd Class Crystal Limbrick

137th Logistics Readiness Squadron
Senior Airman Daniel Harris

138th Operations Group
Senior Airman Ashley Bailey

349th Logistics Readiness Squadron
Senior Airman Jan Cafourek
Senior Airman Alan Tombleson, John L. Levitow Award

507th Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Lynuel Lee

552nd Air Control Networks Squadron
Senior Airman Jason Cates
Senior Airman George Gray

552nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Logan Butler
Senior Airman Christian Flowers
Senior Airman Michael Matthews
Senior Airman Thomas Nilles

552nd Maintenance Squadron
Senior Airman Edwin Guadalupe, Academic Achievement and Distinguished Graduate Awards
Senior Airman Edgardo Villalobos Martes

552nd Operations Support Squadron
Senior Airman Manuel Rivera

72nd Aerial Port Squadron
Senior Airman Gareth Brooks

72nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron
Senior Airman Shelby Platt
Senior Airman Luis Villalva

72nd Logistics Readiness Squadron
Senior Airman Ryan Kropp

72nd Medical Support Squadron
Senior Airman Vanessa Bradley

72nd Security Forces Squadron
Senior Airman Meredith Jordan
Senior Airman Dominik Lane

963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Cody Blevins, Sharp Image Award
Senior Airman Daniel Deas

965th Airborne Air Control Squadron
Senior Airman Deante Covington, Distinguished Graduate

Freedom Citation

Written by Senior Airman Nicholas Hazelett, Air Force Sustainment Center

Everybody has a hero. I have many. My dad taught me the value of hard work. My high school football coach taught me the value of effort. My mom taught me the value of family, and caring about others. In some way or another, they are all heroes to me. However, there is only one person who taught me that the way you live your life can have a lasting, meaningful impact on someone else for the rest of their lives. That person, to me, is Airman 1st Class Eric Barnes.

Eric always wanted to join the Air Force. Even before 9/11, he was always talking about when he planned on joining, and that no matter what, that was his goal. After 9/11, I asked him if he still planned on enlisting. He told me that at that point, he wanted to join more than ever. I didn't understand it back then, but to each their own.
Fast forward a few years, I was 20 years old, almost 21. I kept in contact with Eric, so much so that his family was my family and vice versa. Eric enlisted, and I worked at a hospital, and worked other odd jobs, trying to make ends meet. He'd come home and tell me about his most recent deployment. I'd ask him if he was worried (he drove convoys), and he'd tell me no. The only way he could get hurt is that if a bomb was launched underneath his vehicle, and that was unlikely. So I was never worried about him. Not until June 10, 2007.

I got a call from my brother, telling me Eric had been hit by a roadside bomb and was killed. I lost it. It was the single most devastating news I've ever heard, even until this day. I didn't know how to respond. I wanted to enlist for the first time ever, but I was terrified. The thought of joining the military was so foreign to me. So I told myself, "Either I go to school and finish, or I enlist."

School wasn't working out for me. I couldn't afford classes, and if I could, I couldn't afford to take time off of work to take them. I turned 26, and the cut-off age was 27. So I said "This isn't about me, anymore. Do it for Eric." And I did.

Eric inspired me to enlist without ever asking me. When I was nervous about BMT, I reminded myself why I'm doing this. I pushed forward. Every PT test, I worry if I can get through it again, year after year. Then I remember running with Eric while he was training, and how he'd push me to keep going. Any time I get nervous, and think I can't do something, I remind myself that Eric would be more than willing to do what I have to do.

To me, a hero is someone willing to do what nobody else will. A hero is someone who makes sacrifices. A hero is someone who puts forth more than the minimum effort. A hero is someone who does what they need to do, and faces all of the obstacles in their way head-on. A hero is someone to emulate. Eric is a hero to me because he made me stronger, and pushed me to make decisions I never thought I could make. Eric didn't join the Air Force to become a hero. But that's what he became to me. I'm hoping that by sharing his story, he can become a hero to you. If we can affect one person in a fraction of the way Eric has affected me, we can be heroes. We all have the opportunity. We can all be heroes.