6th AMW sergeant recognized

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Recognition is always nice, but it's what you do that gets you recognized that matters, and Senior Master Sgt. Rex Temple, a member of the 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron, has done plenty. His efforts recently earned him a 2010 Airman of the Year honorable mention from the Air Force Times.

Above and beyond best describes Sergeant Temple's recent deployment to Afghanistan, where the 6th Air Mobility Wing deputy inspector general decided there was more to doing his duty than, well, just doing his duty as a member of the Embedded Training Team with the Afghan National Army.

It started with a simple request from an 8-year-old Afghan boy: he wanted a pen from Sergeant Temple.

The boy's humble need for a writing instrument inspired Sergeant Temple to team up with his wife back in Tampa, who coordinated a school supply drive for the children of Afghanistan. The drive produced 700 boxes of supplies, collected from Florida and 11 other states. The boxes included paper, stuffed toys, and of course, plenty of pens among other things of use to the children.

It was a great effort with a great result, but it was not enough for Sergeant Temple. He saw an opportunity to convert and unused mosque into a library, and spearheaded the transformation. Throughout his deployment, he also made certain as many people as possible could know what kind of work the U.S. military was doing in Afghanistan. He not only did weekly radio stories, which aired on National Public Radio's Tampa affiliate, he also kept up an Internet blog detailing his experiences in Afghanistan. The blog not only kept people informed and entertained, it was recognized as tops in the Air Force category of the annual 2010 MilBlog awards.

"I'm really honored that that someone I don't even know nominated me," said Sergeant Temple of the Air Force Times award. "All this started out very small and it just sort of grew over time; National Public Radio gave me a voice to the public and it took off from there."

Sergeant Temple also put in his time as a warrior. He was a convoy commander in the war zone, gunner or driver in 180 mounted combat patrol missions during his deployment. He was leading a nine-man team on a humanitarian mission when it came under an ambush attack from insurgents.

The team battled its way out of the fracas, his leadership and actions earning him Sergeant Temple the Bronze Star.