Instructor wins AFSA NCO of the Year Award

Published Sept. 24, 2013
By Airman 1st Class Jelani Gibson
82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Tech. Sgt. Airica Harms-Colby, a 361st Training squadron aerospace propulsion instructor, has earned the Air Force Sergeants Association coveted Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger Non Commissioned Officer of the Year award.

The award is meant to recognize and honor outstanding junior NCO's and encourage them to be good representatives of the Air Force.

"It was unbelievable," said Harms-Colby. "I had a great feeling of pride and honor."
While she won a prestigious award, she initially joined AFSA because of the mentorship the she could receive herself.

"It's a pretty neat experience," she said. "I wanted to learn how to be a better leader."
Harms-Colby credits that very same leadership and her fellow Airmen in regards to winning the award.

"I definitely didn't win it on my own," she said. "I had a lot of peers help me, it was a team effort"

In the midst of being an instructor, Harms-Colby enjoys being a leader and mentoring young Airmen so that they may someday take over the reins.

"It would be a disservice if I didn't teach everything I knew," she said. "Helping create mechanics is going to benefit the Air Force."

In spite of the award, Harms-Colby still maintains her students as a number one priority.

"They (the students) are going to do deployments one day," she said. "I don't want them to be scared, I want them to be armed with the info they need to complete the mission."

As Harms-Colby prepares to move on to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., to teach at the Vosler NCO Academy, she will continue to remember the impact she has had on her students.