927th Warrior Recognized by Chief Master Sergeant of 4th Air Force

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Command Chief Master Sgt. Rocky Hart's job is to maintain the health, welfare, morale and discipline of all enlisted personnel of Fourth Air Force, an organization of approximately 22,000 reservists. He was pleasantly surprised recently when he encountered one of the 927th Air Refueling Wing's citizen-warriors while he was making his rounds in Kandahar, Afghanistan. For Senior Master Sgt. Steven Hadley, a vehicle operations superintendent with the 927th ARW, it was just another day serving his country.

"I was the flight chief of vehicle maintenance for the 451st Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron," said Hadley after returning from his combat deployment as the only reservist in his unit. "I noticed that Chief Hart's vehicle was pretty beat up, and a person of his importance is representing my unit when they are driving around in one of my vehicles."

Hart was touring the airfield at Kandahar ensuring that his Airmen had the attitude and discipline they would need to complete their mission in a combat environment. He didn't have to look far to find an Airman who fit the bill. It was a quick decision for Hadley to turn the keys of his own vehicle over to the chief.

"I was watching (Hadley) interact, lead and direct numerous Airmen as well as numerous civilian contractors, working on scores of military vehicles," Hart said. "Hadley didn't know who I was at the time. Even after introducing myself, his professionalism was as high as I have ever seen in an Airman."

Hart went on to say that Hadley continually demonstrated exemplary combat leadership and behavior.

"In my opinion, Hadley exemplifies a seasoned and well-rounded senior non-commissioned officer who takes the role of doing his job and caring for his Airmen very seriously," Hart said.

He added that Hadley was an " ... outstanding leader, Airman and warrior."

"We were rocketed 78 times in six months and tracked over 900 vehicles in multiple forward operating bases," Hadley said. "We were in one of the worst locations on the base because Afghanistan was right outside our fence. What I'm proudest of is that during my time there we had zero accidents and zero safety infractions."

"Hadley is a poster child for the Air Force," said Maj. Brett Wedding, commander of the 927th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Hadley's commanding officer. "He's the kind of guy you don't have to worry about when it comes to doing the real world mission both in word and action. I'm proud to say I have more troops just like him."