PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Air Force Reserve Master Sgt. Cortney Shank was named the 302nd Airlift Wing’s 2015 Outstanding First Sergeant of the Year at wing’s annual awards banquet, March 5, 2016. Awardees are recognized for their leadership and job performance, self-improvement and base and community involvement.
Throughout the past year, Shank has helped many achieve a healthier lifestyle through activities she organized including the third annual wing warrior challenge, a physical fitness competition that included 90 Air Force Reserve participants. Additionally, she guided six of her peers through a 12-week fitness program where they lost a combined 50 pounds. She also facilitated conflict resolution sessions to encourage well-being and help others work through challenges. When she is not spending her free time helping her fellow Airmen, she is dedicated to her self-development as she pursues a bachelor’s degree. Shank has also worked to earn three associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force.
Shank’s service went beyond her Reserve duty as she volunteered 120 hours of her free time during the past year at a local elementary school and helped ensure more than 350 of the school’s students had the supplies they needed. Shank currently serves as First Sergeant to the 302nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron, the squadron responsible for ensuring medical readiness of the wing’s 1,300 Reserve members.