302nd MXS 'Shirt' tops in AFRC

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Daniel Butterfield
  • 302nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  In the Air Force only the top performing noncommissioned officers are selected to be first sergeants, or "shirts." It is an honor to be selected but a lot is expected from these high-achievers. They are on call 24/7 and responsible for the morale, welfare, and conduct of all enlisted members in a unit.
 
Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Anthony is currently the first sergeant for the 302nd maintenance squadron here. And not only is he the 2012 top first sergeant for the 22nd AF, he was named the top first sergeant for the entire Air Force Reserve Command in 2012.

Simply put, he was recognized as the best of the best.

But this honor did not affect the way Anthony goes about his business. He knows what is expected of him and will continue to meet and exceed those expectations.

"It hasn't changed me, doesn't change how I work. Being honored with this level of an award is very humbling and surreal. There are a lot of good people doing a lot of hard work to take care of their people and the mission. To win this award in the midst of so many hard chargers is humbling," said Anthony.

One of the reasons Anthony is humbled is due to the fact that he recognizes no one receives a major award or recognition without the help of others. And he wants to help others achieve what he has achieved.

"What you do next is important. Having been through that experience I can take others down that road. The list of ways to use this experience to mentor and lift others up is endless," said Anthony.

When Anthony is not working as a Reservist for the 302nd AW, he is a police officer for the City of Fountain, Colo., where he is a patrol corporal and serves on the SWAT team and supervises the K-9 team. Being an AF Reserve first sergeant and a police officer might seem far removed from each other, but Anthony says they complement each other all the time.

"I've been able to dissolve a potentially hostile situation by building quick rapport solely based on my flat top and military service. I have used communication skills developed as a police officer to talk to Airmen, resolve disagreements but more importantly to keep an objective opinion," said Anthony.

Another area where Anthony shines is his community involvement. During 2012's Waldo Canyon fire, he volunteered 50 hours of his time to help evacuees. He was named a 2012 Community Hero by the Fountain Valley Foundation, started the Fountain Police Department's first ever Honor Guard and helped to provide 29 underprivileged local children with a better Christmas with his involvement with the "Shop with a Cop" fundraiser.

Anthony, who returned from a Southwest Asia deployment recently, understands it can be difficult to balance family, work and Reserve duty, but knows, to excel, you have to go above and beyond the norms.

"Be involved and know what you need to do to be prepared for the next step in your career. Being a reservist and balancing a separate career and a family is no small task. To ask someone to go above the standard and set the bar higher may not seem 'fair.' You have peers that are hungry and applying themselves to "check all the boxes" and then checking some more to set themselves apart. When enough people check the extra boxes, guess what, a new standard is born. If it's not you setting the standard, someone else will," added Anthony.