Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber | Chief Master Sgt. Rick Scurry had a vision — honor and present current and former...... read more read more
RENO, Nev. -The senior enlisted leader of the Nevada National Guard, Chief Master Sgt. Rick Scurry had a vision — honor and present current and former Nevada Air National Guard chief master sergeants with their own custom coin.
It wasn’t an easy task.
The Nevada Air National Guard has had 122 chiefs since the first one in 1959 (Kenneth Wolfe) to its most recent in June (Erich Kolbe).
On July 23, 56 current and former Nevada Air National Guard chiefs attended a lunch in the Sierra Air National Guard Association (SANGA) club at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno and helped fulfill Scurry’s vision.
As part of the event, each chief received a custom coin.
“I got the idea from the former command chief of the Idaho Air National Guard, Chief Master Sgt. (Retired) Pete Glick,” Scurry said. “I was in Idaho sitting on a Wing Command Chief Selection Board and afterwards I was sitting in Chief Glick’s office when I noticed the coin. I asked him about it and thought it was a great idea and something I would like to do here in Nevada. It was a project that I wanted to finish prior to retiring.”
Many of the attendees traveled from out of town and several from out of state, including some from California, Texas and even one from Mexico. For a few of the chiefs that have since passed, their families’ were there to accept the coin on their behalf.
Each chief was presented with their own coin produced by a local coin maker. The face of the coin has an American Indian chief’s head along with chief’s stripes, their number and the word “Veneratio,” which means respect and honor in Latin. The back of the coin has “Chief Master Sergeant” across the top and “Nevada Air National Guard” along the bottom, with the new High Roller Bighorn Sheep design, an outline of the state of Nevada, the Air Force symbol, the chief’s name and the date they made chief.
In 1997, the chief’s stripes changed from two stripes above three rockers to three stripes above two rockers. The coins match when that change happened. John Gordon was the first chief to receive the three stripes on top of the coin.
“Master Sgt. Brandan Trehal, of the Intelligence Squadron, designed the coin,” Scurry said. “Chief Bartlett and Chief (retired) Cindy Sullivan did a lot of the work in putting the list together. The Chief’s Council funded both the coin and the lunch provided at the event.”
There are also 10 “Honorary Chiefs” which are members chosen by the Chief’s Council. Col. Timothy Gregory was named the most recent Honorary Chief. Nominees must be current, former, or retired members of the Nevada Air National Guard. Nominees must possess an extensive history of significant (above and beyond) interaction, support and impact on the NVANG’s enlisted force.
“Chief Drisdale (state command chief) will carry the tradition forward,” Scurry said. “He will keep the list updated and every time someone makes chief, they will receive their coin with their number, name, and date of promotion.”
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.26.2015 18:52 |
| Story ID: | 174353 |
| Location: | RENO, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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