Photo By Staff Sgt. Anthony Hyatt | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nicholas Wabeke, squadron commander of the 776th Expeditionary...... read more read more
One of the 363d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing's own has recently been named the 2021 Lance P. Sijan United States Air Force Leadership Award winner in the senior officer category.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nicholas “Nick” Wabeke, deputy commander of the 361st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, earned the award for his achievements while deployed as the squadron commander of the 776th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron and the installation commander of Chabelley Airfield, Djibouti, Africa.
The Lance P. Sijan U.S. Air Force Leadership Award is named in honor of the late U.S. Air Force Capt. Lance P. Sijan, an Air Force Academy graduate and combat pilot, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his intrepidity while evading capture by the North Vietnamese and during his subsequent captivity as a Prisoner of War. The award recognizes the accomplishments of officers and enlisted leaders who demonstrate the highest qualities of leadership in the performance of their duties and the conduct of their lives.
“Completely shocked -- to have my name associated with Lance Sijan is an honor I will spend the rest of my life attempting to live up to,” said Wabeke. “I know everyone else out there from every other [major command] and nominating category have to be tremendous leaders, and I’m honored to have been nominated. I am extremely appreciative to all my mentors over the years and especially appreciative to my wife and my kids who had to deal with a husband/father being gone for over a year.”
The Florida-native also gave thanks to those he was deployed with.
“As such, I can say the award is a testament to all the partners I had during that year being patient enough with me to grow into that role,” said Wabeke. “From an incredible working relationship with the Army and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, providing for base security, to our enduring partnership with the United States Navy, the French Air and Space Force, the fantastic team at the U.S. Embassy and our local Djiboutian partners in Damerjdjog, and last but not least, the men and women of three separate [Air and Space Expeditionary Force] rotations who I was privileged to join on team Spartan.”
According to the 2021 Award announcement, Wabeke led 200 members from the Air Force and Army providing security and airfield management and ensuring the success of three aviation organizations. His efforts enabled 2,000 missions resulting in 36,000 hours, a successful hostage rescue and the retrograde of American forces from Somalia. Finally, his leadership led to job access, school supplies and the repair of a well in a nearby village, ensuring a favorable environment for Africa’s largest remotely piloted aircraft base.
Wabeke said one of his proudest achievements during his 365-tour was his team’s success with providing static close out date feedback to each and every eligible enlisted member from the downrange location to the member’s home station.
“Providing feedback when it matters the most, prior to a SCOD, ensures that I can tell the story of that Airman to their supervision so that no record of an Airman assigned to the 776th EABS gets to a rack and stack without at least a message from the (deployed) first-line supervisor to the home station first-line supervisor,” said Wabeke, in a March 2021 article from the 435th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs office.
Wabeke hopes this requirement can be taken Air Force-wide and it will become policy.
“We are really fortunate to have a leader of Lt. Col. Wabeke’s caliber as a member of our Wing,” said Col. Timothy Richardson, commander of the 361st ISR Group. “While Lt. Col. Wabeke earned the Sijan award as a deployed squadron commander, it is easy to see why he was recognized. A career aviator, Nick did not grow up in the ISR community, but he has a genuine passion for both our mission and our Airmen. As such, he brings a diverse perspective and approaches every task and challenge from the angle of how it will impact our Airmen’s development and quality of life. Really proud of Lt. Col. Wabeke for earning this award, but even more proud to have him on our team.”
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2022 12:32 |
| Story ID: | 413320 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 403 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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