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Air Force Reserve selects top enlisted Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Celena Wilson
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Air Force Reserve Command honored its top Airmen for 2008 in a ceremony April 1 in Atlanta.

The command selected four reservists to represent it in the Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen and First Sergeant of the Year competitions. They now compete against Airmen from other major commands and agencies.

Seventeen Airmen vied for the command honors. They included unit reservists, individual mobilization augmentees and Regular Air Force Airmen. Four Airmen competed in the airman category, five in the NCO category, five in the senior NCO category and three in the first sergeant category.

AIRMAN: Senior Airman Channel H. Bolton-Scholl is an aircraft maintenance specialist with the 446th Maintenance Squadron at McChord Air Force Base, Wash. The Eugene, Ore., native joined the Air Force Reserve in March 2005. She is currently a crew chief performing Home Station Check inspections on the C-17A Globemaster III.

She volunteered to deploy to Christchurch, New Zealand, to support Operation Deep Freeze missions in January 2008. As the flying crew chief, she assisted aero-medical people in setting up litter stanchions to transfer critically injured National Science Foundation people from Antarctica to New Zealand.

Airman Bolton-Scholl attends Willamette University in Salem, Ore., where she is pursuing a degree in business administration.

NCO: Tech. Sgt. Phillip M. Balson is a network infrastructure craftsman in the 35th Combat Communications Squadron at Tinker AFB, Okla. This traditional reservist is a native of Oklahoma City, Okla., and joined the Air Force Reserve in 2003.

Sergeant Balson has taken part in every unit exercise and volunteered for two deployments to Southwest Asia in 2005 and 2008. During one deployment, he volunteered 25 hours in the Air Force theater hospital. He also played a key role in planning and putting on the expeditionary communications squadron's combat dining-in."

In 2007 he received an associate's degree in electronic system technology from the Community College of the Air Force. He plans to earn a bachelor's degree in business management.

SENIOR NCO: Senior Master Sgt. Gregory D. Taylor is a flight chief in the 908th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Maxwell AFB, Ala. The Decatur, Ala., native spent four years in the Regular Air Force before joining the Air Force Reserve in 1992. In civilian life, he is an electronics technician with SCI Systems, where he has worked since leaving active duty.

He has volunteered to serve as a primary crew chief on several Air Expeditionary Force deployments supporting Operations Joint Forge, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Joint Task Force Horn of Africa. He recently became the 908th AMXS superintendent.

In 2008, he completed his CCAF associate's degree in aircraft maintenance technology. He is enrolled at Columbia Southern University, working toward a bachelor of science degree in management and maintaining a 4.0 grade point average.

FIRST SERGEANT: Senior Master Sgt. James Felton Jr. serves in the 445th AMXS at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

He enlisted in the Regular Army after graduating from Messick High School in Memphis, Tenn., in 1981, and then transferred to the Ohio Army National Guard in 1984.

After a six-year break in service, Sergeant Felton joined the Air Force Reserve in 1997. He is a business leader who has created several small businesses and founded a non-profit organization, which supports inner-city youths.

In 2006, Sergeant Felton became the first sergeant of the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. Two years later the 445th Airlift Wing's command chief master sergeant selected him to be the 445th AMXS first sergeant.

As an active member of the Wright-Patterson AFB First Sergeant and Top Three Council, Sergeant Felton participates in fundraising drives for a variety charities and good causes.

He holds a bachelor's degree in organizational management and dual master degrees in leadership and finance. He also teaches business and finance at the collegiate level. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)