Air traffic controller named May Airman of the Month Published June 5, 2013 By Senior Airman Frank Casciotta 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Senior Airman GawMaoMee Champion, an air traffic controller with the 71st Operations Support Squadron, is the 71st Flying Training Wing Airman of the Month for May. Each month, squadrons around base select their best and brightest Airmen to represent their squadron in front of a board made up of a chief master sergeant, a senior NCO, a junior NCO and the previous month's Airman of the Month. Airmen selected to go before the board are questioned on current events and Air Force standards and judged on dress and appearance and military bearing. This was Champion's first time going before the board. "I was really nervous," said Champion, a Fresno, Calif., native. "I felt like I did OK, but I did not think I was better than the other Airmen who were there." A few days after the board, Champion received a call from her supervisor asking her if she would come in early for work to hear a briefing from the Chapel staff. To her surprise, it wasn't a chaplain that came up to the control tower cab -- it was Col. Darren James, the 71st Flying Training Wing commander. "When I saw him I realized what was actually going on," said Champion. "Everyone did a good job keeping it a secret from me. I was really excited." As an air traffic controller working inside the control tower, Champion handles student pilots flying in a circular pattern around the tower within a five-mile radius. "It's our job to make sure the flight line is clear and to keep aircraft separated from each other," said Champion. Air traffic controllers in the tower don't only keep aircraft separated at a safe distance. They also direct all other vehicles needing to travel across the flight line. Champion is unsure whether or not she's going to stay in the Air Force. She says it will depend where her journey takes her.