Ramstein NCO captures first sergeant award

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RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  A senior noncommissioned officer assigned to U.S. Air Forces in Europe headquarters at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, has earned the 2004 Air Force First Sergeant of the Year Award.

Senior Master Sgt. Ricky Price, who works in construction and training, is being recognized for building then teaching the first USAFE first sergeant deployment and contingency training course. The course contributed to the mission success of operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom with 19 first sergeants and one chaplain trained on various wartime scenarios.

"This is truly an honor, because when I look across our great Air Force and the first sergeants that serve, every one of them probably deserves this recognition," he said. "Sure, I worked hard this past year, but every first sergeant worked hard as well. I wish there was an award for the most outstanding group of the year -- that group would be the Air Force first sergeants."

Focusing on self-improvement needs for people, he created a squadron combat library. Through this program, Airmen gained access to 51 College Level Examination Program and Defense Activity For Nontraditional Education Support books and compact disks. He taught a discipline class for 110 NCOs ensuring those supervisors had the tools to respond to situations with swift, fair action. He also developed and taught a seminar that trained 40 supervisors on how to write awards, performance reports and decoration packages.

Sergeant Price also created the "Taking Care of Our Own" program to combat drunken driving. The program provided emergency pocket cards to troops with their supervisors' telephone numbers, and the squadron had no drunken driving offenses in 2003.

As chairman of the Kaiserslautern Military Community Holiday Cheer program, he directed the efforts of 40 first sergeants and more than 500 volunteers for eight charity events. Ultimately, the program raised more than $67,000 to help about 840 families between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

"As a Christian, I would like to thank my Lord for the many blessings he has bestowed on me; my wife for always supporting everything I do; my daughter who has sacrificed many events without her daddy being there; and my parents who taught me how to love, care and help people," Sergeant Price said.

He will receive the award Aug. 25 during the Air Force Sergeants Association national convention in Columbus, Ohio. (Courtesy of Air Force Personnel Center News Service)