Air Force reservist honored at AFRL as best in Colorado

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Rob Hazelett
  • Air Reserve Personnel Center Public Affairs
BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  Aurora Chamber of Commerce officials, other local organizations and military partners throughout the area, joined together to honor Senior Airman Rachel Smith as the Reservist of the Year in the Air Force Reserve category during the 39th Annual Armed Forces Recognition Luncheon May 8, 2015, at the Doubletree by Hilton in Denver.

The luncheon, sponsored by Colorado Technical University, included an awards ceremony recognizing 11 military members and one civilian from the community for their outstanding achievements during the past year. The guest speaker for the luncheon was Maj. Gen. David J. Buck, Air Force Space Command vice commander.

Smith, an Air Reserve Personnel Center personnel technician, said winning the award was a culmination of hard work and perseverance.

“Last year I set a goal to do more volunteer work and to progress in work ethics, both which I achieved,” the traditional reservist said. “When I won the military person of the year for the Air Force Reserve, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I felt proud to serve and inspired to do better than I've done before.”

Smith, a two-year Air Force veteran, said she joined the Air Force to be a good role model and give her children someone to look up to.

“Often times we get caught up in our own schedules and forget to make a difference for others,” she said. “I would tell others to never be afraid to accept a challenge – set goals and achieve them. Volunteering really opened my eyes to how fortunate I truly am.”

As a personnel technician, Smith works under the commander support staff where she processes leave requests, generates appointment letters, routes evaluations and decorations and monitors the Weighted Airman Promotion System program. In addition, she works in-processing and out-processing actions and ensures service members are scheduled for fitness assessments.

During her spare time, she enjoys exercising, cooking, activities with her children and anything that involves the outdoors.

This is the only event established to recognize all branches and components of service - Army, Air Force, Marine, Navy, and Coast Guard - active duty, guard and reserve.

Other finalists representing ARPC this year were:

Air National Guard
Tech. Sgt. Joel Johnson and Tech. Sgt. Amee Espinoza

Air Force Reserve
Senior Airman Angel Lopez-River