Features

Airlifter of the Week: Specimens in good hands

Story and photos by Staff Sgt. Trevor Rhynes
86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
May 21, 2021
Rachel Byrd, 86th Airlift Wing drug demand reduction program administrative manager, verifies an Airman’s personal information prior to processing a sample at Ramstein Air Base, May 12. Personal information is verified before the service member leaves the DDRP office to ensure the sample has the correct information assigned to it.

An 86th Airlift Wing civilian was selected as Airlifter of the Week for her performance at Ramstein Air Base, May 6.

Rachel Byrd, 86th AW drug demand reduction program administrative manager, excelled during the COVID-19 pandemic in one of the largest collection sites outside of Air Education and Training Command.

“She has so many qualities that needed to be recognized amongst the wing staff agencies,” said Calvin Collosi, 86th AW DDRP manager. “She’s excelled in every challenge we’ve given her and it’s a blessing to have her as part of our phenomenal team here. I know I can be away from the office and have superstars in the office to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Byrd has been part of the DDRP team for a year and a half. Her responsibilities during that time include accounting for more than 80 units, including geographically separated units, being the sole Government Purchase Cardholder for the DDRP office and collecting more than 3,700 specimens during normal testing and including wellness sweeps, dorm inspections and dorm checks.

“It’s encouraging. Sometimes I just put my head down and do my job and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s paying attention,” said Byrd. “So it’s nice to get recognized like this.”

Rachel Byrd, 86th Airlift Wing drug demand reduction program administrative manager, prepares samples for shipment at Ramstein Air Base, May 12. This process is standardized to ensure every batch is processed the same way.
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