Photo By Master Sgt. Brandy Burke | Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, Air National Guard Deputy Director, addresses participants of...... read more read more
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The 2023 Washington Air National Guard Professional Development event and Airman Awards Banquet took place at the Spokane Conference Center, Washington, March 4-5 and were the highest attended events in recent WA ANG history.
Every year a committee of Washington Air National Guard personnel plan a weekend for developing airmen leadership and professional skills and it culminates in an awards banquet that recognizes the top performing personnel and units during the previous calendar year.
Around 400 airmen and soldiers packed a large conference room at the Spokane Conference Center when the PD event commenced the morning of March 4. The focus of the curriculum was the People’s Republic of China because the top priority of the 2022 National Defense Strategy is addressing the “multi-domain threat posed” by the People’s Republic of China and its desire to upend the Indo-Pacific regional order.
“The nearly 400 folks attending will be able to walk away from this event being able to speak credibly on the PRC threat, not just to help better focus our operational training, but to have the knowledge to help better educate the American public on the threats we’re facing down the road,” said Brig. Gen. Gent Welsh, Washington Air National Guard Commander.
The audience heard from a slate of distinguished academics and military personnel, including Maj. Gen. Duke A. Pirak, Air National Guard Deputy Director, retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Brian Davis, Director of China Research with Blue Path Labs and former Defense Attaché to China, and Joshua Baughman, Analyst at Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute.
An even larger crowd – more than 500 people – turned out for the awards banquet the evening of March 4 at the convention center. Pirak was the banquet’s guest speaker and the following personnel and units received state-level awards and will go on to compete at the Air National Guard level:
Airman of the Year:
Airman 1st Class Belinda Griffin, 256th Intelligence Squadron, 194th Wing
NCO of the Year:
Master Sgt. Shane Bedard, 141st Medical Group, 141st Refueling Wing
SNCO of the Year:
Master Sgt. Jacqueline McFarling, 141st Medical Group, 141st Refueling Wing
First Sergeant of the Year:
Master Sgt. Aaron Reese, 141st Medical Group, 141st Refueling Wing
CGO of the Year:
Capt. Andrew Janosick, 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, 194th Wing
Civilian Employee of the Year:
Mr. Douglas Nielsen, 141st Civil Engineer Squadron, 141st Air Refueling Wing
Honor Guard Member of the Year:
Capt. Michael Addams, 141st Medical Group, 141st Refueling Wing
Honor Guard Program Manager of the Year:
Master Sgt. Jocelyn Somol, 225th Air Defense Group
Top Recruiter of the Year:
Tech. Sgt. Emily Hanson, 141st Air Refueling Wing
Recruiting Flight of the Year:
194th Wing
Flight of the Year:
141st Maintenance Operations Flight, 141st Air Refueling Wing
Squadron of the Year:
141st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 141st Air Refueling Wing
“You represent the very best the WA ANG is and can be, and I’m super proud to be able to hand out these awards,” Welsh said. “Huge thanks to the supervisors and unit leadership for the time it took to recognize your nominees this year, and thanks to the awards boards that had to make some really tough decisions between really talented airmen. Another big thank you goes out to the 141st team for putting in all the work to host this year’s banquet and PD.”
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2023 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 439786 |
| Location: | SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Hometown: | SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 354 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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