Vance NCO receives Commandant Award at academy graduation

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Tech. Sgt. Eumiko Egins was one of 189 graduates from the NCO Academy at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, receiving their diplomas May 23.

Egins is the director of the 71st Flying Training Wing Equal Opportunity office. Her hard work at the academy earned her the Commandant's Award, given to the student who displays all the characteristics of an effective leader.

She also received Distinguished Graduate recognition for scoring in the top 10 percent of graduates.

The awards were a surprise for Egins. The five-weeks of professional military education were hard, she said. "I was focused on graduating. Winning awards wasn't on my list," she said.

The biggest impact of the NCO Academy on Egins was a change in her outlook. "I used to think that being in the Air Force was about me," she said. "My records needed to be right, my this, my that, my career..."

After the academy, she realized it is about leading, mentoring and training others that makes the Air Force better. "When we focus on the 'I," someone else gets left behind," Egins said. "Now I understand it is really about bringing others along, it is about building people up and motivating them.

"The Air Force really is a team effort," she said. "No one succeeds on their own."

The physical training part of the academy was also geared to creating leaders," Egins said. "They would spend 45 minutes just wearing you out with a variety of exercises, then challenge you with a mission."

That mission had to be accomplished as a team, but without oral communication. "It was a high stress situation, which is just the kind of thing we face daily as NCOs in the Air Force," she said.

The mission could be as simple as each team member receiving a slip of paper with a sentence on it from the Airman's Creed. "We had to put them all together in the correct order while running a 400-meter course," she said.

And that was how the day started Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Two instructors stand out in Egins' mind. Her flight instructor, Tech. Sgt. Terra Mason was impressive. "She was realistic, but optimistic."

The second one was Master Sgt. Micah Chitwood. He presented an enlisted performance report bullet writing class during the fifth week of instruction. "He presented the best information I have ever received on how to take care of your people and help them achieve the most they can," Egins said.