Life-saving medic awarded top senior NCO honors

Published March 3, 2014
By Tech. Sgt. Douglas Hays
434th ARW Public Affairs

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Stepping away from home helped one senior noncommissioned officer step into the limelight.

Master Sgt. Rosalba De La Paz, 74th Air Refueling Squadron medical element technician, was selected as the 434th Air Refueling Wing's Senior NCO of the Year for 2013, a year in which she completed two deployments.

De La Paz's first deployment was to 86th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where she worked at a contingency aeromedical staging facility providing medical support for the Air Force's largest expeditionary operations group.

While there, she managed nearly 2,700 patient moves on 223 aeromedical evacuation flights, said Lt. Col. Brian Stopher, 74th ARS commander.

"She worked 17 hour days to ensure after-hour mission success," Stopher said of her dedication.

Charged with leading 19 Airmen on her shift, De La Paz said she scheduled patient movements and provided life-saving medical care for everyone from infants undergoing neonatal intensive care to wounded warriors coming off the battlefield. She also said she even worked with transporting animals under veterinarian care.

"It's was a life changer because working at Grissom, you don't see that side of the medical field while here our main focus are the annual physical health assessments," she said. "There I got to see the people who made that sacrificial difference and help them."

While rendering medical care and transporting them to medical facilities was part of the care she provided, De La Paz said she was able to help them in a completely different way as well.

"For the patients, the biggest thing was being able to listen to them, and they all had a story they wanted to tell," she recalled. "They don't want to talk about the injury; they just want to talk about themselves without someone asking about their injury, and want to be remembered for who they are outside of the medical setting."

"It's really an amazing thing when you're the one that can make a difference for people and concentrate on the person and not on their illness," she continued. "You know you made a difference when you see their eyes light up a happy smile on their face when you walk into the room or after your chat."

And, making a difference with her patients wasn't the only way De La Paz had an impact in Germany as she also helped to change the lives of her Airmen.

"I worked with a lot of senior airmen who were a little hesitant with their skills and leadership abilities," she recalled. "So, every week I gave them leadership tasks and had a leadership roundtable to help enhance their abilities and their leadership skills."

"They all really grew from when we first started to when we left," the master sergeant continued. "It's great working with the people and being able to bring out leadership qualities in them -- knowing that I was able to help and build character under the people I had with me."

De La Paz's second deployment with the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, may have looked a lot different in location and tasks, but she said it was equally as rewarding.

While there, she provided support and tracked medical readiness for more than 180 aircrew members made up of reserve, guard and regular Air Force Airmen, and her command lauded for her management of the aircrew fatigue management program and its 100 percent accuracy and accountability.

During that deployment, Stopher said she also responded to 33 in-flight or ground emergencies, where she evaluated aircrews to determine their return to flight status in a high-operations tempo environment.

Wanting to make a difference in Airmen's lives again, De La Paz was hand-selected to be an additional duty first sergeant.

"She was a trusted advisor," remarked Stopher.

While her two deployments differed during the year, the one constant she took on both was her sense of volunteerism.

From working to feed people, to volunteering at a blood bank and even augmenting postal members to process holiday mail, no matter the location she was at she got involved.

"I did a lot of volunteering, it helps to pass the time," she said.

And, while improving the lives of others was a hallmark of De La Paz's 2013, she was also focused on improving herself.

To maximize global medical readiness, Stopher said she graduated from total-force sustainment training designed to advance readiness skills.

She also graduated from the National Defense University's Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education Course and Senior NCO Academy.

When asked if she had advice for fellow Airmen on how to find success and rewards in their careers, De La Paz said they should look for opportunities to serve, especially on deployments.

"It's really fulfilling, and you get to see the world outside of your element," she continued. "You get to work with others, and that makes you a more well-rounded leader."

In speaking of leadership, De La Paz said she was thankful to those who led here and supported her throughout last year and her entire career.

"I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without supportive leadership, especially Chief (Master Sgt.) Jeff Maier and Colonel Stopher.

Prior to joining the Air Force in 2007, De La Paz served in the Army for nine years as a combat medic.

With the deployments behind her, De La Paz will now join three other 434th ARW annual award winners to compete at the 4th Air Force level.

The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Airmen and aircraft from the 434th ARW routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission and U.S. strategic objectives.

Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.

News Search

Life-saving medic awarded top senior NCO honors

Life-saving medic awarded top senior NCO honors

Public Affairs Staff