23rd LRS technical sergeant wins AF-level award for a second time

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brigitte Brantley
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Tech. Sgt. Robert Schenk, 23rd Logistics Readiness Squadron NCO in-charge of deployments, recently won the title of the Air Force Logistics Plans Non-commissioned Officer of the Year for the second time for outstanding performance and significant achievements in his career field.

At the end of May, Sergeant Schenk will travel to Washington, D.C., to accept his award at an official ceremony.

Sergeant Schenk credits his accomplishment to both his work ethic and his mentors.

"What they look for in a strong award package is a combination of your duty performance, what you've done that is career-broadening and if you're a well-rounded individual," said Sergeant Schenk. "I also won this award in 1999 as a senior airman and I haven't stopped improving since then, so winning this award feels like my hard work is solidified.

"My attitude and how I go about my work helps to guide me toward achieving accomplishments like this. I don't look at my job as just affecting Moody, I think about how it affects the servicemembers downrange and I take pride in that."

Sergeant Schenk said his first supervisor in his current career field helped mentor him and helped him develop that attitude.

"As a cross trainee into logistics, I had to adjust to new things," he said. "My first supervisor helped me develop the attitude that if I wanted something, I had to take the initiative and go get it."

Because of his 'go get it' attitude, the nomination for his award is full of mentionable accomplishments.

"I'd say one of the most notable accomplishments was the tracker database he developed to help Moody Airmen deploy quicker and more efficiently," said Master Sgt. James Allen, 23rd LRS logistics plans superintendent, who was one of the individuals who helped write Sergeant Schenk's award nomination package. "This database helped give us visibility over the deployment process and establish a timeline.

"This was extremely important because certain actions need to be done by specific times. Now, when we get a tasking, we have this database to track when it was received, when it was passed down, who will be filling it and everything about how that person is getting to where they're going."

Sergeant Schenk also created the processes needed for deploying A-10s for the first time after they were moved to Moody from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., in 2007.

"This was the first 18 ship deployment ever, and neither the 75th Fighter Squadron nor Moody had ever deployed that many assets in support of a deployment," he said. "Because of this, there were a lot of logistical hurdles we had to overcome, including the transportation budget."

During the 2008 Headquarters Air Combat Command Unit Compliance Inspection, he was recognized as a Superior Performer and was also a member of the Superior Team.

He helped standardize more than 5,000 personal readiness folders for 28 squadrons and cut the average processing time for deploying Moody Airmen by 50 percent.

Sergeant Schenk also excelled during his deployment to Iraq, where he helped arrange and track airlift transportation for 530 Airmen and led logistics for 37 different areas of responsibility.

"Sergeant Schenk is a very valuable asset to his unit and the Air Force," said Sergeant Allen. "The fact that it's the second time he has won this award tells volumes about the caliber of Airman that he is.

"He's always working hard to train his team and set them up for success. He leads by example, has a lot of dedication and this award was well-deserved."