Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Ten (CPRW-10) held its annual awards quarters Wednesday. The heroes we recognized on President’s Day, like our forefathers, exemplify what it means to be a patriot; giving of themselves to make this a better country, one shipmate at a time.

“There are few duties more rewarding than the opportunity to thank these tremendous performers who are flying and maintaining our combat aircraft,” said Capt. John Dziminowicz, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10. “I treasure these opportunities to acknowledge the excellent men and women who make our Force a capable, formidable tool for war fighting commanders across the globe.”

Command Support Professional

Awarded to Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class(AW) Maurice Brown, of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2). Brown ensured squadron medical readiness in the midst of a complex homeport move from Rota, Spain to NAS Whidbey and with consistent attention to detail, enabled the smooth and on-time deployment of 22 detachments,

Maintenance Professional

Awarded to Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) Donald Weatherby of Patrol Squadron One (VP-1). Weatherby achieved numerous qualifications including Safe for Flight (releasing aircraft for flight), a position not normally achieved by a first class petty officer. His leadership in Maintenance Control was instrumental in executing over 40 percent of VP-1’s flight hours, and resulted in zero discrepancies for the ordnance shop during the most recent Aviation Maintenance Inspection.

Aircrewman

Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class (AW/NA) Joseph Medina of VQ-1 was recognized for his leadership as president of VQ-1s 1st Class Petty Officer Association, leading 77 first class petty officers in numerous volunteer efforts. He authored and taught 15 avionics presentations, trained 29 aircrew, significantly increasing the squadron’s operational readiness. As Aircrew Detachment leading petty officer he trained and led eight aircrewmen in the repair of 40 in-flight discrepancies, resulting in a 100 percent sortie completion rate.

Enlisted Instructor

Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) 2nd Class (AW/NA) Kyle Musto, VP-46s top Flight Engineer, played an integral part in training 18 flight engineers, instructor pilots, and observers.  As an instructor and handpicked as primary Flight Engineer Evaluator, he administered check rides and proctored positional exams, while racking up over 390 aircraft hours and 200 simulator hours as an instructor.

Officer Instructor

Lt. Edward Kribs, also of VP-46, recognized as the officer instructor of the year, attained every qualification available to a first tour pilot, with 450 hours as an aircraft commander and over 200 as an instructor. Leading the VP-46 training department, often under challenging conditions, he directly contributed to the qualification of 15 plane commanders and pilots and sat on 28 qualification boards.

Aviator

Lt. Jeffery Walker of VQ-1 is a fully qualified Senior Evaluator and Mission Commander and has been an outstanding performer during unit evaluations, achieving his warfare qualification 10 months ahead of the Wing 10 goal. While accumulating over 900 flight hours, including 263 combat hours, he remains committed to mentoring other junior officers. His guidance as NFO training officer significantly reduced training time for NFO “upgraders.”

Electronic Warfare Crew

VQ-2s Combat Reconnaissance Crew 24 has flown 233 mishap-free combat hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom and for the Coalition Forces Maritime Component Commander in the Arabian Gulf. They spent 71 days in the Central Command Area of Responsibility, during which time they were the sole provider of threat intelligence that saved American lives during an OIF combat mission. As the first to arrive in response to troops under fire, they increased the situational awareness and security of ground forces under attack.

Flight Crew

VP-40s Combat Aircrew 6 flew over 170 combat flight hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines, providing real-time imagery and data collection for forces on the ground. Due to their professionalism and dedication to performance, they maintained 100 percent readiness throughout the home cycle and qualified three designated aircrew instructors.

Junior Officer Leader Excellence

Lt. Michael Haymon of VP-40 is a combat-tested veteran, who flew over 107 flight hours in support of OEF-P, and is directly responsible for his crew’s unprecedented success in providing crucial information to ground forces. As the senior naval flight officer instructor he ensured compliance and currency of all 26 NFO’s, leading them through the last Seventh Fleet deployment.

Peer Leadership

The Navy and Marine Association recognized the following individuals based on votes by their peers. 

E-7 to E-9 category, Senior Chief Aviation Machinist Mate (AW/NA) Glenn Grimmer, VP-1

Junior Officer (O-1 to O-3) category, Lt. Dennis Jensen, VP-40

Department Head (O-4) category, Lt. Cmdr. Steven Richards, VP-46

Command (O-6) category, Cmdr. Raymond Keledei, VP-46

Dziminowicz closed the ceremony with thanks to all the men and women of Wing 10 who faced and mastered the numerous challenges in 2005, both here at home and around the world.