Minnich is Senior NCO of the Year

Published Dec. 9, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Mark Orders-Woempner
434th ARW Public Affairs Staff

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind., -- Master Sgt. Greg Minnich, 434th Operations Support Squadron intelligence specialist, was recently named 434th Air Refueling Wing Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year.

A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Sergeant Minnich joined the Air Force Reserve in 1992 as a combat crew communications troop, where he spent the first 16 years of his career.

In 2006, a then Tech. Sgt. Minnich was given the chance to change career fields and, subsequently, increase in rank to the level of senior NCO. But, it wasn't the rank that enticed him to make the switch.

"I wanted to take a different look at the Air Force," he said. "It was an opportunity to learn and get a different experience."

In fact, it is the ability and desire to learn which Sergeant Minnich credits his success in the Air Force and as a senior NCO.

"Continuing education has always been a priority," said the intelligence troop, who holds two degrees from the Community College of the Air Force. "Right now I'm working on my bachelor's from American Military University in military intelligence."

It isn't just college classes alone that Sergeant Minnich credits with his education though.

"Everything can increase your knowledge, especially deployments," he said. "I have learned the most in the Air Force from deployments, because I'm doing the work in a real-world environment."

Sergeant Minnich stated he has been deployed more than fifteen times, many of those to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. He said he learned something new on each deployment, including how to mentor junior NCOs.

According to his nomination packet, Sergeant Minnich "volunteered for two tours to Incirlik (Air Base), Turkey," and "set a good example for younger Airmen in the Intelligence shop."

It is his ability to mentor and desire to grow that the sergeant said allowed him to step into a much higher role during a recent deployment.

It wasn't just his deployed accomplishments that won him this award. According to his nomination packet, the sergeant "championed the transition of all 434th ARW isolated personnel reports to (a) new joint rescue's classified system."

"I mangaged the transition from the old ISOPREP system, which was just for the Air Force to a new joint system used by all services," said Sergeant Minnich.

But, it was not only knowledge the sergeant brought back from deployments.
According to Sergeant Minnich, shortly after September 11, 2001, he was deployed to Turkey where he met and befriended a local by the name of Kader. Kader and the sergeant continued their relationship thanks to several deployments that followed, and the two married in 2005.

Sergeant Minnich will now compete for the title of 4th Air Force Senior NCO of the Year. Should he win that, he will then compete at the Air Force Reserve Command level.

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