Combat Airlifter of the Week

Col. Robert Ator II, commander of the 189th Airlift Wing, coining Senior Airman Joshua Chaplin, 189th Maintenance Group's fabrication shop as Combat Airlifter of the Week Mar. 15, 2016, at LIttle Rock Air Force Base, Ark. Chaplin, a part time police officer for the Austin Police Department, was able to save a man from a burning vehicle. (Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Chris A. Durney)

Combat Airlifter of the Week: Senior Airman Joshua Chaplin

Published March 17, 2016

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- NAME: Senior Airman Joshua Chaplin

UNIT: 189th Maintenance Squadron

POSITION: Aircraft structural maintenance journeyman

HOMETOWN: Pensacola, Florida

TIME ON STATION: Three years

TIME ON SERVICE: Three years

CORE VALUE: Service Before Self

HOW DOES THE INDIVIDUAL PORTRAY THAT CORE VALUE: Chaplin exemplifies "Service Before Self" not only as an aircraft structural maintenance journeyman in the 189th Maintenance Squadron, but also as a part time police officer for the Austin Police Department. While on duty with the Austin PD, Chaplin responded to a 911 dispatch of a trapped person inside of a burning vehicle on the side of a highway. Chaplin, the first to arrive on scene, found the front of the vehicle engulfed in flames and the occupant still trapped inside. Chaplin broke the window, pulled the man from his vehicle and administered first aid until other first responders arrived. His quick thinking and courageous actions saved the life of the occupant.