LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Mediavilla and Staff Sgt. Bradford Bends advanced in the nomination process towards joining the ranks of the Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year.
Representing Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Mediavilla and Bends were selected by 9th Air Force and will be evaluated by senior Air Force leaders.
Being selected as an outstanding Airman sets the member apart from his or her peers through exceptional performance.
The honor recognizes 12 outstanding enlisted Service members for their superior leadership, job performance, community involvement and personal achievements.
"One of the things that separates our military culture from civilian society is the way we celebrate the accomplishments of our peers," said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Joshua Tidwell, 633rd Medical Group first sergeant. "Celebrating the successes of those who accomplish challenges, provides others the confidence they need to persevere through adversity and obstacles. Excellence rewarded inspires others."
Being nominated as a candidate for the AF 12 OAY is no easy feat. Hard work and dedication are necessary, as both Mediavilla and Bends have demonstrated.
Mediavilla, is currently deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan and assigned to the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. He served as the 633rd Medical Group first sergeant from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013, where he managed personnel for the third largest Air Force medical treatment facility, caring for more than 950 active duty personnel.
He also served as the president of the First Sergeants Council, for whom he managed 27 events, to include Operation Warmheart, which raised more than $50,000 for Langley Air Force Base families.
Bends worked as a 633rd Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal team leader from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2013. He managed on-the-job training for 22 personnel, for whom he oversaw 4,000 accomplished tasks.
Bends trained and shared tactics, techniques and procedures with 100 military and local federal agents, increasing homeland defense capabilities and fortifying President Obama's counter-improvised explosive device priority. He was previously deployed to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, where he spent 1,100 hours outside the wire and led the engagement of insurgents during 18 enemy attacks.
The work performed by both Service members is appreciated by those around them.
"I am very excited someone as deserving as Staff Sgt. Bends is getting the recognition he has earned from the Air Force," said Capt. Curtis Lloyd, 633rd CES EOD flight commander. "He is truly a hard worker."
If chosen, Mediavilla and Bends will earn the Outstanding Airman ribbon with the bronze service star device, serve on the Air Force Enlisted Council and wear the Outstanding Airman badge for one year.