MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Two Moody Airmen were selected to receive annual Air Force-level Security Forces awards on April 8-10 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
Master Sgt. Jared Klingaman, 824th Security Forces Squadron NCO-in-charge of training, was named the Air Force Security Forces Flight-Level Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the year, and Master Sgt. David Houtz, 820th Security Forces Group standardizations and evaluations, was awarded the Security Forces Support Staff Non-Commissioned Officer of the year.
The Air Force awards ten Security Forces active-duty Airmen annually for their performance based on leadership, duty, self improvement and community involvement.
"I can accredit my success last year to three major points," said Sergeant Klingaman. "It started with the trust of the Senior Leadership, permitting me to lead 44 Airmen. The second is the feedback I received from my peers allowing me to learn and grow. Finally, the Airmen under me really made our missions a success"
Sergeant Klingaman stressed that without his Airmen, none of this would have been possible.
"The most satisfying experience I had all year was watching my troops professionally demonstrate exactly what we train for at Camp Victory," he added. "Seeing that gave me a huge sense of pride."
Sergeant Houtz accredited his award to the time he spent in Baghdad as part of a police training team, as team leader assigned to the 824 SFS.
"I am extremely proud of the fact that my team completed over 90 combat patrols," said Sergeant Houtz. "The two occasions sticking out most in my memory were the two encounters in which we engaged insurgents."
Although both sergeants are being recognized by the Air Force, the reigning theme they wanted to get across is their awards would not have been possible without the Airmen entrusted to them.
"I could not stress enough the important role that the Airmen played in our awards," said Sergeant Klingaman. "They were the gears behind the operation and every single Airmen in our crews deserve a piece of this honor."