Photo By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Raughton | U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bryan Woiewucki, Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight NCO...... read more read more
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Tech. Sgt. Bryan Woiewucki, 18th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight NCO in-charge of training, begins his morning the same way as many Airmen: P.T., breakfast and a morning meeting.
However, Tuesday, April 2, would turn out to be different.
“I was on standby, so my phone was in my window because of bad reception and I see a number that says no caller ID on it and it was a DSN number,” Woiewucki said. “I thought, well, it’s a standby call, no big deal. I answered and it was my commander.”
Woiewucki was told that he was selected as PACAF’s NCO of the Year and that he would go on to compete as one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year.
“Wow, I did not see this coming,” Woiewucki said. “You don’t really know what to say to that because you never expect to actually go that far. You think about when are put up for an award, that you might just make it through the gauntlet of the squadron, group or wing.”
Woiewucki said he let out a deep breath to exhale and take in the moment, then he contacted his wife to inform her of the good news. He also contacted his flight chief and thanked him for the opportunities that enabled him to be competitive in the field and win the PACAF award.
Throughout 2018, Woiewucki experienced a deployment to Africa, volunteered as a Team 5/6 committee lead and professional development coordinator, fielded new technology that would help CE personnel survey airfield damage, all while performing his regular job of training the next generation of EOD troops in nearly 200 core tasks, alongside many others.
“He’s very tenacious,” Senior Master Sgt. Loren Green, flight chief assigned to the 18th CES EOD flight. “Once he gets an idea in his head of how he’s going to get something done, he gets it done.”
Woiewucki is Green’s third troop to win at the major command and later compete at the Air Force level.
“Each EOD techs do a lot of the same stuff,” he said. “For me, it was [Woiewucki’s] deploying to Africa and excelling there and then coming back to home station, not missing a beat, and excelling at both places. It’s part of his tenacity.”
Woiewucki credits the senior NCOs who mentored and opened the doors of opportunity for him throughout his career, as well as his squadron overall.
“It’s been a great year for the organization as a whole,” he said. “The squadron won Outstanding Large Civil Engineer Unit, our flight was the Most Outstanding EOD Flight in PACAF, and we had an Airman win Master Blaster of PACAF.”
The Air Force will announce the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year this summer.
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2019 01:01 |
| Story ID: | 318772 |
| Location: | KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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