Loggie named officer of the year Published April 3, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- From the day they pin on gold bars, Air Force officers are expected to lead Airmen to the highest of standards, and for exhibiting such leadership one Grissom lieutenant earned high accolades. 2nd Lt. John Pedro, 434th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels flight commander, was recently named the 434th Air Refueling Wing Company Grade Officer of the Year for 2013. "This is such a huge honor for me," said Pedro, who said he doesn't normally like a lot of attention. "I wanted to be a logistics readiness officer because I like to work behind the scenes, so I don't need recognition, but this really is a huge personal honor for me." Pedro, who was a prior enlisted aircraft maintainer and recently completed training to be an LRO, said the Air Force has also given him significant opportunities he wouldn't normally have had. "Going from just a farm kid to working on jet aircraft to writing technical publications to deploying troops, it's something I never thought I'd do," he remarked. "The biggest thing I've enjoyed was training to be an installation deployment officer while working on real-world deployments." During that training, Pedro watched and learned as Christy Shives, 434th LRS IDO, deployed two rotations of aircraft and Airmen to the Middle East before he oversaw the deployment of a third. "It was amazing to watch Christy work in that position as I shadowed her first for the second rotation, and then I ran the third rotation," he recalled. "That position is amazing in the fact that you're representing the wing commander, and especially for me being a butter bar in that position, it was overwhelming." Despite that challenge, the new lieutenant said he appreciated the opportunity. "That was my Mount Kilimanjaro, and once I got done with it I went 'whew,'" he remarked. "One of my goals when I did it was to remain calm but also be upbeat, and I've taken that lesson back with me to fuels." On top of being trained as an IDO, Pedro said he's also been trained on a host of other duties, as his position requires him to be an Air Force jack-of-all-trades. "We are IDOs, but we can also manage logistics plans, vehicle ops, [petroleum, oils and lubricants], and supply," he explained. "One of the great things, of all the LROs I've talked to, everyone loves us because we are like the sticky glue they can put in any area, especially in joint environments." On top of learning his job and deploying troops around the globe, Pedro was lauded by Lt. Col. Bryan Runion, 434th LRS commander, for several of his contributions that had significant impacts. "He was hand-picked despite his junior rank to be the fuels flight commander, and had an immediate positive impact on quality assurance and safety," said Runion, who added that Pedro "re-blued the flight" with his leadership. Re-bluing is a term often used in the Air Force to mean bolstering morale and unit pride. Helping to build that morale, Pedro led an effort to create a 434th LRS crest and saw the project all the way through its approval by the Army's Institute of Heraldry, which is the approval authority for all Air Force unit insignias and crests. "He succeeded where others failed," said Runion of the 8-month long project. Pedro also showed his tenacity and attention to detail as he corrected errors in fuel reporting to the Air Force Reserve Command. "Our fuel hydrant utilization rate was showing at 30 percent, which was under AFRC's goal," he explained. "I started researching in the [Air Force instructions] and found out everything we were doing was compliant; we were just calculating it incorrectly." While a simple calculation error of utilization may seem insignificant, Pedro said it had big impacts. "We were on the cusp of getting a whole new hydrant system, and having that is a lifeblood for heavy airframes, because in the big world of planning if you ever want to rapidly move in heavy airframes, a hydrant system is the way to do it," he explained. "If you don't have a hydrant system, everything has to be trucked which blows your worst-case scenario for war planning out the door." Grissom will begin installation of the new hydrant system June 1. It wasn't just for his job proficiency and attention to detail that garnered Pedro the annual award. He was also evaluated on his self-improvement and base and community involvement. To improve himself, Runion said the lieutenant took the initiative to complete course in logistics QA, aircraft load planning, physical training and hazardous material handling. Through that training, Runion said Pedro aided the squadron in 100 percent on-time reports, increased cargo planning depth, developed a unit fitness program and ensured access to the latest technical orders. For his efforts around Grissom and off-duty, Pedro was lauded in his award package for being the lead point of contact for a 434th Mission Support Group assumption of command ceremony, leading more than 40 workers to set up for Grissom's Family Day event and for helping fellow 434th LRS personnel build wheelchair ramps for handicapped veterans. When asked if he had advice for fellow Airmen, Pedro said the keys to his success revolved around his agility and willingness to step outside his comfort zone. "You can foresee so many things and you can go off experience, but you need to remain agile," he elaborated. "The more you know what's going on around you, the better prepared you'll be. You want to get out of the stove pipe mentality, so when you do have problems you know where to get help." The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Airmen and aircraft routinely deploy from the 434th ARW in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
