MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Each year, 12 Airmen across the Air Force are selected for the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year Award. The award recognizes the top 12 outstanding enlisted personnel for superior leadership and the whole Airman concept.
Now, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida is home to one of these winners. Master Sgt. Joshua “Mayo” Malyemezian, section chief of the performance management flight assigned to the 6th Contracting Squadron, won the award while assigned to Air Combat Command.
His award stems from his accomplishments between January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 as the section chief of the services and contingency support flights assigned to the 55th Contracting Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
During that time, the Spring, Texas native, was also the unit deployment manager, unit training manager and coordinator of unit exercises focused on standing up bare bases.
“I never thought I would get a call from Gen. Holmes (commander of ACC) two days before the list of the 12 Airmen was released,” said Malyemezian. “Honestly, I always saw the 12 OAY Award as something unachievable, something that was meant for battlefield Airmen who put themselves in harm’s way for our country.”
However, Malyemezian attributes this award to the mindset that began during his first duty as an Air Force Honor Guard ceremonial guardsman. After entering the Air Force in July 2005, he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard Ceremonial Guardsmen course in December 2005.
“The USAF Honor Guard was a great start for me because it set extremely high expectations for myself,” said Malyemezian. “When it came to uniforms, details and how we conducted ourselves, anything less than perfect was absolutely unacceptable.
“To this day, I still strive to carry myself that way, and uphold the standards expected of me.”
He later became an Air Force Honor Guard instructor, allowing him to pass on his knowledge and professionalism to new members of the program. After four years in the Honor Guard, he retrained into the contracting career field in November 2010. Then, he began his new career at Offutt AFB.
Some of his achievements while at Offutt include being a contracting officer for three flights with a $5 million buying authority, allowing him and his team to secure a communications upgrade contract in less than a week. He also saved 27 million taxpayer dollars with a magnetic resonance imaging contract which led to him being named the ACC Contracting Senior NCO of the Year for 2016.
Since moving to MacDill, Malyemezian explained that his mindset still stands.
“I was never trying to win any awards; I just do my job as well as I can and support my Airmen to ensure they have an understanding of their job,” he explained. “But one interesting thing about my award nomination file is that I wasn’t a full-time student, nor a full-time volunteer.
“My focus was purely on my tasks at work.”
Malyemezian explained that hard work, and taking pride in what he did was his top priority during 2016. To him, the work ethic that started at Offutt is exactly what he’s bringing to MacDill.
“Our team is extremely excited about Master Sgt. Malyemezian’s accomplishment,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Peske, commander of the 6th CONS. “Although he has only been with our squadron a short time, he has already proved himself to be an impeccable senior NCO.
“I am incredibly proud of ‘Mayo,’ and his selection highlights both his exceptional performance and the Air Force’s recognition of the critical capabilities our contracting professionals contribute to our mission partners.”