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Logistician of the Year

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Camilla Elizeu
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Senior Airman Sammie Ervan, 355th Logistics Readiness Squadron base support plan manager, was awarded the Air Force-level Logistics Readiness Airman of the Year award here Aug. 7.

Ervan was nominated for the award in 2012. His supervisor at the time, Staff Sgt. Mariko McClain, prepared the package without his knowledge.

"The first I heard about it was through email from someone I know at the Pentagon," Ervan said. "I used to coach his children on the basketball and baseball teams here, and he recently moved to Washington, D.C. to take a special-duty job at the Pentagon."

In Ervan's nomination package, his supervisor referred to him as number one of 2,456 Airmen as well as terms such as masterminded, spearheaded, academically superior, dedicated, out in front, devised and many more.

Ervan filled a lot of the roles of a noncommissioned officer at his work center due to deployments leaving them short staffed.

"My leadership looked upon me to bridge the gap between the Airmen and NCOs in our office," Ervan said. "So, I stepped up and helped the other Airmen throughout the process."

Manning being slashed in half left Ervan open to prove himself worthy of Senior Airman Below the Zone. BTZ is a competitive early promotion program offered to enlisted U.S. Air Force personnel in the rank of Airman 1st Class. This early promotion opportunity is restricted to elite Airmen who stand out from their peers and perform duties at a level above their current rank.

Ervan also won base-level Airman of the Year 2012. Ervan was also a quarterly award winner two quarters in a row at base level.

"The most amazing part was the surprise," Ervan said. "I had no idea I was even thought of when it came to these awards, especially the Logistics Readiness Airman of the Year award."

Ervan finds that the Operational Readiness Inspection in 2012 was the most challenging event due to minimal manning.

"It was a real challenge for us as a shop to do the required work with half the shop," Ervan said. "But I do feel that I learned a lot, and the challenge was very well accepted."

After receiving so many awards, Ervan is still humble.

"I understand that individual awards recognize an individual's hard work," Ervan said. "But I would like to see an award like this for our whole office. It wasn't just me in there, and I had to learn from somebody."

Ervan goes on to say that without the help and training of McClain, Staff Sgt. Nicholas Franklin, 355th Logistics Readiness Squadron, and Master Sgt. Anthony Bullen 355th Logistics Readiness Squadron, he would not have received recognition for this award or even been able to help their deployment control center pass an ORI.