USAFE recognizes Airmen in annual awards ceremony

***image1***U.S. Air Forces in Europe named its 2006 Outstanding Airmen of the Year at an April 6 banquet.

Out of 77 nominees from across Europe, the award recipients are:

Airman of the Year: Staff Sgt. Dominick Griego, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy

NCO of the Year: Tech. Sgt. Sachiko Jones, 501st Combat Support Wing, Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England

Senior NCO of the Year: Senior Master Sgt. Gerald Euler Jr., 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, England

First Sergeant of the Year: Senior Master Sgt. Robin McNatt, 435th Air Base Wing, Ramstein

Civilian of the Year Category I: Darren Penrose, 48th FW, RAF Lakenheath

Civilian of the Year Category II: Donald Ehrman, 65th Air Base Wing, Lajes Field, Azores

Company Grade Officer of the Year (tie): Capt. Jerry Ruiz, USAFE Headquarters, Ramstein, and Capt. Joe Wildman from RAF Mildenhall

From the enlisted winners, the award recipients were chosen from more than 25,000 fellow Airmen across the command, while the civilians competed among approximately 14,000 of their colleagues, and the company grade officers competed against about 2,300 fellow officers.

The award recipients now will compete for Air Force-level honors.