Sheppard Airman earned top honors at ALS, NCOA and SNCOA

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Vernon Cunningham
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Master Sgt. William Catts, 364th Training Squadron flight chief of telecommunications flight, accomplished a rare feat as he was presented his third John Levitow Award during an Air Force Senior NCO Academy graduation Sept. 14 at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala. Sergeant Catts had also won the award for both his NCO Academy and Airman Leadership School flights.

The John Levitow Award is the highest honor that can be earned in an enlisted professional military education course.

"It was humbling to have that kind of recognition in each of those classes," said the master sergeant. "I have been blessed at every PME level to have wonderful people in my flight and great instructors. Through it all, my philosophy has been the same: Give 100 percent. You get out of it what you put into it."

Sergeant Catts attacked PME using his philosophy and consistently performed well academically, earned the respect of his peers and was recognized as a leader by his instructors.

He earned his first John Levitow Award while attending ALS at Ellsworth Air Force Base, Calif., in 1999.

"For my first Levitow, I was blown away," said the sergeant. "I knew I was doing fairly well academically, but I had no idea that I would come out as the Levitow winner. I was surrounded by a great group of guys and I really appreciated that they recognized me with this honor."

Then Sergeant Catts earned the John Levitow Award during his TDY in 2006 to Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., for the NCO Academy course.

He said he attended the course in August 2005, but Hurricane Katrina struck three weeks into it. Sergeant Catts was recalled to his unit to help manage a shelter and, therefore, could not graduate with his class.

Another opportunity for the NCOA presented itself in 2006 and Sergeant Catts enrolled in the course.

"I didn't go into the course looking for awards," said the sergeant. "I wanted to give 100 percent and help out my flight as much as possible."

Since Sergeant Catts was stationed at Keesler at the time, performing in class and honoring home commitments after class made things a little difficult.

"It was a little bit of a challenge. But, I have an amazingly supportive wife, so it was alright," he said.

Sergeant Catts recently completed his record of PME excellence by earning the John Levitow Award at the SNCO Academy course.

When he entered the course, he said he went into it with awe. Sergeant Catts said there was no way he could possibly be in the running for the John Levitow Award. Having only been enlisted for 16 years, he would be in a large class of 455 students which included people with more experience and seniority.

"I was thinking that if I made the top 10 percent then it would be outstanding," Sergeant Catts said. "There were a lot of people there that I knew I could learn from. I just wanted to get as much as I could out of the experience and be a team player."

After winning his third Levitow Award, Sergeant Catts said he was glad he could share the moment with his family, friends and senior leaders.

"My parents are proud," he said. "My wife, Amy, is probably my biggest cheerleader, so she was excited as well."

Sergeant Catts said the best thing he took from PME over the years was what he learned from others. He said whether it was from an instructor's experience or every other person in the room with more years of experience, special duties, different backgrounds, etc....you learn a lot from them.

"What you learn, and the confidence you can get, translates into more of a sense of ownership in the Air Force," Sergeant Catts said. "You feel more a part of it. And you get a sense of responsibility to make it yours so you can develop the people that are coming up who are going to make it theirs."

Sergeant Catts is currently working on a Bachelors of Science degree in religion at Liberty University in Lynchburg Va. He has two Community College of the Air Force degrees; one as an instructor and one as an electronics technician.