Staff Sgt. Kenneth Rambo, 47th Flying Training Wing egress systems craftsman was chosen by wing leadership to be the “XLer” of the week, for the week of Oct. 8, 2018, at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.
The “XLer” award, presented by Col. Todd Dyer, 47th Flying Training Wing vice commander, is given to those who consistently make outstanding contributions to their unit and the Laughlin mission.
Rambo, a native of Seattle, Washington, works extensively to ensure the last means for pilots to eject an aircraft are fully operational to perform the job, if the need arrives. Rambo led 47 egress system inspections and more than 300 maintenance actions, which led to him receiving unit recognition for his strict adherence to technical order guidance. Known as the unit “honor roll” award.
“I believe my demonstration of understanding in my eight evaluations over the last quarter have shown I am a subject matter expert of the T-6 and T-38 ejection systems,” Rambo said. “I think finding any discrepancies before quality assurance and fixing them is what led me to the honor roll [award].”
Rambo also got an opportunity to instruct students from the local high school and taught them the essentials of safety around sensitive components in egress.
“The students came into egress as part of the ‘Grow Your Own’ program,” he said. “They got to learn some fundamentals of egress as well as the huge importance of safety around most of the components here.”
Ensuring facility security and compliance can be a very difficult task. However, due to Rambo’s preparation and attention to detail, his team was able to ace the Unit Effectiveness Inspection, or UEI, without any discrepancies, earning him the outstanding performer recognition.
“The most challenging part of the UEI was probably the [Management Internal Control Toolset],” Rambo said. “The reason we performed so well was because we implement the two-man concept – one person performs and the second inspects. We always make sure we keep each other in check.”
Rambo dedicates a major part of his success to his support system at home – his wife and daughter. Along with their support and the dedication of his team, Rambo mentored the next generation of egress craftsmen, aced the UEI with zero discrepancies and earned unit recognition for his keen sense of detail to adhere to technical orders, which have led to his receipt of the “XLer of the week” award.