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Air Force Reserve Command names top Airmen

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ellen L. Hatfield
  • Special to Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Air Force Reserve Command selected its top Airmen to represent the command in the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year competition.

At a March 5 banquet in Atlanta, the command announced the winners of the airman, NCO, senior NCO and first sergeant categories. The banquet capped several days of planned activities and tours by the nominees.

The winners are:

Airman - Staff Sgt. Matthew D. Reece, explosive ordnance disposal technician, 315th Civil Engineering Squadron, Charleston AFB, S.C.

NCO - Staff Sgt. Eric M. Eberhard, EOD technician, 419th CES, Hill AFB, Utah

Senior NCO - Senior Master Sgt. Glenn C. Greenwood, airlift tanker propulsion functional manager, Headquarters AFRC, Robins AFB

First sergeant - Master Sgt. Jeffrey A. Gray, 328th Airlift Squadron, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y.

Sergeant Reece, a native of Colorado, enlisted in the Air Force in 2003 in the EOD program. After technical school, he volunteered to work with the U.S. Secret Service to protect important people, including the president, vice president and other foreign dignitaries.

He deployed to Iraq for six months and completed more than 90 combat missions "outside the wire." While deployed, he completed his Community College of the Air Force degree in EOD. He also holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of North Carolina. A senior airman at the time of his nomination, Sergeant Reece was promoted to staff sergeant Oct. 1.

Sergeant Eberhard is from Utah. He served in the Marine Corps Reserve for eight years before joining the Air Force Reserve. Although he is finishing a degree in architecture from the University of Utah, his choice for a military career was EOD. He graduated from the EOD course in 2005, and, like Sergeant Reece, performed duty at the White House in support of the president.

When Sergeant Eberhard went to tech school, he left when his first daughter was 4 months old. His second daughter was born while he was serving a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

"I called my wife every day but one while deployed," he said. "She is my personal hero - dedicated, supportive, faithful, loving, charitable - an unrivaled wingman."

Sergeant Greenwood joined the Air Force after graduating from high school in Kentucky. From there his assignments have taken him to Japan, Korea, Panama, Alaska, Alabama and finally to Robins. He said he most enjoyed his time in Panama, as the en route mission and the people were a great influence on his career.

In 2007, he volunteered to deploy and was responsible for standing up the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing's first aircraft engine manager position at Balad Air Base, Iraq.

Sergeant Gray's Air Force career took him to England but he has returned home to his native New York.

He started his career as an aircraft electrical systems specialist. He has since taken assignments in combat communications, satellite communications, wing history and a first sergeant in services, communications and operations.

A veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he most recently deployed to Afghanistan for more than eight months as first sergeant of the 755th Expeditionary Mission Support Group.

Sergeant Gray praised Col. Mike Mounts. He said the commander of the 439th Mission Support Group at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., was a great mentor.

"A former first sergeant himself, he trusted me to serve with him in Afghanistan," said Sergeant Gray. "I continue to learn and grow with mentors like him."

Sergeant Gray is a 12-year veteran firefighter with the City of Buffalo, certified as an emergency medical technician and a federal and state fire service instructor.

"It's all about helping people," said Sergeant Gray. "I'm assigned to a rough neighborhood, so I've seen a lot. I've seen stabbings, shootings, watched buildings burn down and saved them. I've saved babies and had them die, seen my fellow fire fighters hurt and brought them back from the edge."  (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)