‘Lucky’ Airman goes from ‘jumping on grapes’ to Presidential Ball

Staff Sgt. Ivanka Vrechkov, a Knowledge Operations Manager assigned to the Air Force Reserve Policy and Integration Office in the Pentagon, landed two spots at the President's Inauguration Military Ball Jan. 21. Vrechkov, a naturalized American citizen, feels very lucky to be attending this historic event. “I came from a little village in Bulgaria and now I’m going to be at a party with the President of the United States – the greatest nation on earth. It feels surreal.” (U.S. Air Force photo)

‘Lucky’ Airman goes from ‘jumping on grapes’ to Presidential Ball

Staff Sgt. Ivanka Vrechkov poses with her grandparents, Pene Stefanov and Ruska Stefanova in Varna, Bulgaria. Vrechkov, a Knowledge Operations Manager assigned to the Air Force Reserve Policy and Integration Office in the Pentagon, landed two spots at the President's Inauguration Military Ball Jan. 21. Vrechkov, a naturalized American citizen, feels very lucky to be attending this historic event. “I came from a little village in Bulgaria and now I’m going to be at a party with the President of the United States – the greatest nation on earth. It feels surreal.” (Courtesy photo)

‘Lucky’ Airman goes from ‘jumping on grapes’ to Presidential Ball

Staff Sgt. Ivanka Vrechkov (right), poses with her father Alexi Stefanov, brother Petko Stefanov and mother Rusanka Stefanova in Varna, Bulgaria. Vrechkov, a Knowledge Operations Manager assigned to the Air Force Reserve Policy and Integration Office in the Pentagon, landed two spots at the President's Inauguration Military Ball Jan. 21. Vrechkov, a naturalized American citizen, feels very lucky to be attending this historic event. “I came from a little village in Bulgaria and now I’m going to be at a party with the President of the United States – the greatest nation on earth. It feels surreal.” (Courtesy photo)

Lucky' Airman goes from 'jumping on grapes' to Presidential Ball

Published Jan. 15, 2013
By Col. Bob Thompson
Air Force Reserve Public Affairs

WASHINGTON -- To get a pair of the hottest tickets in town, you have to be in the right place at the right time and be more than a little lucky. That's what Staff Sgt. Ivanka Vrechkov thought when she landed two spots at the Presidential Inauguration's Military Ball, for the evening of Jan. 21.

"I'm very excited and I feel very lucky," said Vrechkov. "I came from a little village in Bulgaria and now I'm going to be at a party with the President of the United States - the greatest nation on earth. It feels surreal." Vrechov was given the tickets because she is the most junior person in the Air Force Reserve Policy and Integration Office in the Pentagon.

A naturalized American citizen, Vrechkov was 16 when her father brought their family to the U.S. from their home in Varna, on the east coast of Bulgaria in August 2002. The family settled in Idabel, Oklahoma.

"We were middle class in Bulgaria, but my father is always striving for more," she said. "He wanted to give us better education, better opportunities - better lives."

In Bulgaria, her family worked in a vineyard. Producing wine includes a lot of hard farm work she said.

"I've come from being a little girl playing and jumping on the grapes and now I'm going to the President's Ball!" said Vrechkov. "Now, I'm looking back and I'm amazed."

Although she enjoys wine, she'll be using her water glass during the formal toasts as she is 31 weeks pregnant. According to ultrasound images, she'll be having a boy in March. And when baby Alexander Genadiev Vrechkov joins the family, he'll be joining a predominantly military family.

"I joined the Air Force in November 2006," she said. "My brother Petko Stefanov is in the U.S. Navy and deployed right now. Also, my husband Genadi just joined the Air Force Reserve in October 2012."

Originally, the couple met in ninth grade in Bulgaria. Five years later, they were reunited in Chicago while Ivanka was going to Oakton Community College in Des Plains, Ill.

After basic training and technical school, Ivanka was assigned to Pope AFB, N.C., as Information Management in 2007. Her Air Force Specialty Code changed to Knowledge Operation Management and she was assigned to the Pentagon in April 2011. In February, she is scheduled to test for promotion to technical sergeant.

And who knows, with hard work and a little bit of luck, the first generation of Vrechkov's born in America could someday attend another president's inauguration - perhaps their own.