Senior NCO earns Guard award Published Feb. 15, 2008 By Master Sgt. Bob Oldham 189th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. -- A 189th Civil Engineering Squadron senior NCO was named the Air National Guard's Outstanding Civil Engineer Manager of the Year in the Reserve Component senior NCO category for fiscal year 2007. Senior Master Sgt. Willard Helmick, the unit's operations superintendent, earned the award based on his job performance, management ability and technical competence, and his initiative and resourcefulness. While deployed to Qatar to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Sergeant Helmick's unit commander on the ground handpicked him to lead all of the base's construction management and to provide supervision of the base's military construction program. He supervised more than 20 construction projects valued at nearly $8 million, including a secure intelligence facility for the U.S. navy, several warehouses and two maintenance facilities. He also deployed to the Arizona-Mexico border to support Operation Jump Start, the presidential mission to support border construction and to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. As the NCO in charge, he led a combined Arkansas/Kansas civil engineer deployment, resulting in the construction of a four-layer fence and road along the border. His direct leadership resulted in .75 mile of border fence in just seven days, his commander wrote in the award nomination package. In seven days, the team of 70 Airmen constructed roughly 250,000 pounds of fence in the hot Arizona sun.
Senior NCO earns Guard award Published Feb. 15, 2008 By Master Sgt. Bob Oldham 189th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. -- A 189th Civil Engineering Squadron senior NCO was named the Air National Guard's Outstanding Civil Engineer Manager of the Year in the Reserve Component senior NCO category for fiscal year 2007. Senior Master Sgt. Willard Helmick, the unit's operations superintendent, earned the award based on his job performance, management ability and technical competence, and his initiative and resourcefulness. While deployed to Qatar to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, Sergeant Helmick's unit commander on the ground handpicked him to lead all of the base's construction management and to provide supervision of the base's military construction program. He supervised more than 20 construction projects valued at nearly $8 million, including a secure intelligence facility for the U.S. navy, several warehouses and two maintenance facilities. He also deployed to the Arizona-Mexico border to support Operation Jump Start, the presidential mission to support border construction and to reduce the number of illegal immigrants entering the country. As the NCO in charge, he led a combined Arkansas/Kansas civil engineer deployment, resulting in the construction of a four-layer fence and road along the border. His direct leadership resulted in .75 mile of border fence in just seven days, his commander wrote in the award nomination package. In seven days, the team of 70 Airmen constructed roughly 250,000 pounds of fence in the hot Arizona sun.