49er receives individual AF Team of the Year award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sondra Escutia
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Air Force and Air Force Association officials recently announced the remotely piloted aircraft sensor operators as the 2010 Team of the Year, and a "Fightin' Forty-niner" RPA instructor was one of five enlisted Airmen across the career field to receive the individual award.

Senior Airman Jon Turney, an MQ-9 Reaper instructor sensor operator from the 29th Attack Squadron, was chosen to represent the career field because of his professionalism, technical expertise and leadership skills.

"I'm pretty excited about it," said Airman Turney about receiving the award. "It's pretty cool to know that the sensor operator career field is finally being recognized for all the work we've done over the last 10 years."

The Whon, Texas, native joined the Air Force almost four years ago for what he called "the cliché reasons."

"Originally I joined ... to see the world, but mainly to get a job that was going to keep me in line and keep me going to work with good benefits, good pay and then the opportunity for college," said Airman Turney.

When he entered the Air Force in December 2006, the sensor operator career field was nonexistent, but the job did exist as part of the imagery analyst career field. It was only recently that sensor operator became an official career field with its own Air Force Specialty Code.

Airman Turney said he decided to maintain his original AFSC as an imagery analyst, but wanted to not close any doors for opportunity.

"I picked imagery analyst. That was the job that I signed for and the only reason I went to basic was because I had that job locked in," the RPA instructor said. "With the sensor operator career field being critically manned, I knew that I wouldn't be leaving this job anytime soon either way. So for me it is almost transparent."

As an imagery analyst in a sensor operator capacity, he has seen the differences in the two jobs and said that in his opinion, they are completely different, but enjoys the work he does and the overall atmosphere of the workplace.

"Imagery analysts can still take the video feed and analyze that, so in a sense, I'm kind of doing my job real time. However, I'm incorporating so much more on top of that," Airman Turney said, adding that the sensor operator also acts as a co-pilot in a sense and maintains communication with other units that are on the ground or in the air. "It can get pretty hectic and it does require a lot of multi-tasking."

Although it is not exactly the job he was expecting, it has not held him back from succeeding. The senior airman was also named the 3rd quarter instructor sensor operator of the group and was named Airmen of the Year for the 29th Attack Squadron for 2009.

"I guess for me, it's kind of an engrained work ethic," he said. "I never want to half-way do a job, it's not done until it's done right ... so it kind of carries over. If a student is not getting a particular subject, maybe you have to spend an extra hour, hour and a half, one-on-one, to get them to the level that they need to be."

In his role as an MQ-9 Reaper instructor sensor operator, Airman Turney's responsibility is to show future sensor operators how to be proactive, multi-task and work under stress to be combat ready upon graduating, as they could be flying combat in the area of responsibility only weeks later. He teaches close air support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, basic surface attack using precision guided munitions and real-time battle damage assessment.

Airman Turney instructs the hands-on portion of the MQ-9 Transition Training Course to Airmen, enlisted and officer alike.

"The highest ranking person I've instructed was a Navy lieutenant, so an O-3," he said with a smile. "At first it was intimidating -- when I was a young instructor, but it gets easier with time because the entire society as a whole at the FTU (formal training unit) pushes the concept of 'once you're out there in the ground control station, the rank is off.' So it's not about rank, it's about roles."

When he arrived to Holloman from Creech in January 2009, he was the lowest-ranking instructor in the group of initial cadre, but his first-line supervisor believes his hard work and self-sacrificing mentality have earned him respect beyond the number of stripes on his sleeve.

"Of all the Airmen I have supervised, Turney has been at the top of the list," said Staff Sgt. William Swain, 29th ATKS. "He has never been one to shy away from a challenge and consistently volunteers for jobs that most above his pay grade try to avoid. I wish I could take all the credit in that my mentoring has put him in the place that he is, but his work ethic and professionalism play a big role in every award he has received."

While he said the RPA sensor operator job can be demanding, Airman Turney goes home every night to his expecting wife, Haley, who is due in June, and his 20-month old son, Rex. He said that even though they don't always enjoy his long shifts, they give him the motivation to do well.

"[My family] really helps me keep going [and] provides the emotional support to combat the extremely high ops tempo in the RPA sensor operator career field," said Airman Turney.

The 2010 Team of the Year award winners will be recognized in a presentation ceremony April 19 in Washington, D.C.