9th BS SNCO receives ACC level award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alexander Guerrero
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Master Sgt. Jonathan Meyer, 9th Bomb Squadron, B-1 Weapons Loading NCO in charge, was selected as the 2014 Air Combat Command 4th Quarter Outstanding Armament Manager on Feb. 5, 2015.

Through close attention to detail and meticulous time keeping, Meyer excels in his daily tasks of prioritizing weapons loading and maintenance schedules. He also supervises and performs production checks on explosives that have been loaded onto the B-1B Lancers. He distinguished himself above other armament managers in ACC for this quarter by working together with those he supervises and fixing the short-comings of their shop.

"We really were just doing our day-to-day jobs," Meyer said. "We went about our business trying to find ways to improve and to become more efficient at what we were doing."

Meyer will be the first to tell you the Airmen he supervises are the reason he received the award. He credits their hard work and flexibility for allowing their team to keep the B-1B Lancers flying.

The reception of the award is even more gratifying due to the fact that a large portion of the 9 BS were deployed in support of overseas operations for six months and just returned in February. This forced Meyers and his Airmen to continue working, even while undermanned, and to successfully complete their mission.

"We've really had to overcome our manning shortfalls since we've had three-fourths of our shop deployed," Meyer said. "The people that were left were not our most experienced Airmen, but they learned quickly and remained flexible, which helped us as a unit tremendously.

"We've been trying to make sure we get the Airmen here who aren't deployed everything they need," Meyer said. "Tools, training, and updated technical orders: all of those things are required to make them as successful and safe as possible."

Although Meyer is happy about receiving the award, he has not lost sight of what is really important.

"I was pretty proud, but what this really shows is that I'm just giving my guys the tools they need to succeed," Meyer said. "I like being recognized, everyone does, but my main concern is making sure my people are taken care of and getting the job done. As long as that's happening, the recognition is just an added bonus."