Team Mildenhall member named as one of Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen of the year

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  There are more than 320,000 active duty Airmen in the U.S. Air Force, and just 12 of those are officially considered "outstanding" each year - RAF Mildenhall is home to one of those 12. 

Senior Airman Alicia Goetschel, 100th Security Forces Squadron, is one of the Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year, and she is still shocked by the news. 

"I felt almost as shocked as when I won the (U.S. Air Forces in Europe)-level award - it was just a surreal, kind of out-of-body experience. I didn't expect it at all," she said after she found out July 3. 

Col. Eden J. Murrie, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, Chief Master Sgt. Michael Warner, 100th ARW chief master sergeant command chief, and other wing and 100th SFS leadership, paid a surprise visit to the drivers training class Airman Goetschel was teaching in the base theatre to break the good news. 

"Col. Murrie came in and made a few jokes about the drivers briefing vehicles. She told everyone that they had an outstanding Airman among them, then announced it was me," the security forces Airman said. 

"She then congratulated me, and I went through a line of hugs and handshakes. Our wing leadership was all so sincere. They gave me a bottle of champagne and told me my picture would be at the Pentagon." 

The 22-year-old Warrensburg, Mo., native called her family that night to tell them the good news. 

"My family and my husband are the most important thing to me - they're my motivation," she said. "My dad used to be in the Air Force. He was also in security forces, and he's a big supporter of my career. He's kind of my cheerleader. Since I joined the Air Force, he's been pushing me and keeping me going. And my mom supports me as well. She's a typical mom. She loses sleep when I'm deployed, and she's been so great during the hard times in my career. She emotionally supports me." 

Airman Goetschel deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq, from June 2006 to March 2007. She prevented more than 13,000 detainees from harming U.S. guards and reacted to numerous mortar and sniper attacks. She increased patrols and initiated recounts and lockdowns of detainees as well. 

She successfully prevented escalation of three aggravated assault incidents, quelled two riots, and discovered an escape tunnel, which she quickly reported to leadership, thereby preventing escape. 

Back at RAF Mildenhall, she processed 200 tax-free car customs declarations and ensured all Team Mildenhall's tax waivers were 100-percent accurate. She also mentored five other Airmen in upgrade training; all received 90 percent. 

"The deployment at Camp Bucca was my first, and it motivated me to go further in my career," RAF Mildenhall's outstanding Airman said. "It was a major experience that opened up my eyes to my career field and life. After I got back from my deployment, I continued to motivate myself. I found a lot of things had changed. It wasn't the same Mildenhall that I'd left, and I had to speed myself up just to do my normal job." 

Airman Goetschel said she kept herself busy with school and applied for different positions to gain more experience, as well as volunteering on and off base. One of the projects she and her husband volunteered for was the refurbishment and decoration of the security forces dorms, which she worked on for almost five months. 

The security forces member said she was surprised when she won the 100th Mission Support Group Airman of the Year, followed by the 100th Air Refueling Wing's Airman of the Year, because she'd never competed for an award like that before. 

"I feel very overwhelmed," she said. "I keep rewinding in my head all the events that led up to this morning. Never in my life have I been at this level before. I really have to push myself, but I've finally seen the results of all my hard work and effort." 

Airman Goetschel said she couldn't have done it without the support of her husband. 

"He's been the one who tolerated me - I have obsessive-compulsive disorder really bad!" she laughed. "But he's put up with me and tolerated my organized way of doing things. He pushes me in my career and calms me down when I need it. He's my security blanket." 

Lt. Col. Alexis Sotomayor, 100th SFS commander, he said he's extremely proud and honored to have one of the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year in the Air Force assigned to his squadron. 

"Whether serving customers on a daily basis as a pass and registration clerk at RAF Mildenhall, or displaying her A-game heroics while deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq, Airman Goetschel is the epitome of today's Airmen," Colonel Sotomayor said. "There's no doubt in my mind that Senior Airman Alicia Goetschel represents thousands of outstanding Airmen in security forces serving the greatest Air Force in the world."