KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Two of the Air Force’s top 12 enlisted personnel are stationed here.
And a third airman from Kadena was recently awarded an Air Force Achievement Medal for saving the life of a 19-month-old child.
Senior Master Sgt. Thomas O. McConnell of the 18th Munitions Squadron and Senior Airman Hector G. Bauza of the 18th Medical Support Squadron are among the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year announced by the Air Force last week.
Both will receive awards at the Air Force Association’s national convention in September. They also will serve as members of the association’s enlisted advisory council for the next year.
McConnell, who moved with his family to Kadena last month, earned his award for duties with the 39th Wing at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, where he was the munitions material superintendent managing a $1 billion munitions stockpile, according to Pacific Air Forces News Service.
While off-duty, he volunteered at an orphanage and participated in a parent-teacher organization and the Air Force Sergeants Association.
Bauza, a biomedical equipment technician, was selected for his work in calibrating critical medical assets for a humanitarian mission to East Timor and for playing a vital role in the buildup of a $151,000 first-responder kit for reacting to weapons of mass destruction, according to the release.
The son of an Air Force master sergeant, Bauza has been stationed at Kadena for two of the almost three years he has been in the Air Force.
Last Thursday, Airman 1st Class Rebecca J. Anderson received the Air Force Achievement Medal for her quick reaction to a near drowning last September while serving as a military policewoman assigned to the 18th Security Force Squadron.
According to the award citation, Anderson performed CPR on a 19-month-old child who had fallen into a backyard pool and was discovered not breathing.
“Due to her quick reaction, the child is alive and well today,” the citation says.
