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Show r NEWS mini Sergeant receives STEP up in rank by SSgt. Barbara Fisher Hilltop Times staff Some days turn out better than others just ask Lisa Kuehnl. Sept. 6 she started out the day as a staff sergeant and NCO in charge of the personnel readiness unit of the military personnel office. Just as the day was winding down, she was attending a commander's call for personnel people when she found herself singled out. And, not by just anyone. In the middle of the commander's call, the door opened and in walked Maj. Gen. Dale W. Thompson Jr. and Brig. Gen. John C. Griffith, the commander and the vice commander respectively of the Ogden Air Logistics Center. Before Kuehnl knew what was happening, she was called to the front and was being praised by the general for her contributions to operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Then the general turned to the other people present, including his senior enlisted advisor, CMSgt. Thomas C. Moeglein, and asked how he could give Kuehnl something to really recognize her efforts. A medal was suggested, but ruled out because Moeglein didn't have one with him. Then the general suggested perhaps a promotion. To the cheering approval of Kuehnl's fellow personnel specialists, Thompson pulled out two sets of technical sergeant stripes and pinned them on her, making Kuehnl an E-- 6 on the spot through the Stripes for Exceptional Performers Program. It turned out to be some day for the sergeant, who's been in the Air Force a little more than 6l years. And while she knew she had been nominated for tet promotion months ago, she said she tried not to think about it. As the commander for more than 1,700 enlisted military members, Thomf son is given one opportunity to award the STEP promotion each year. A STEP promotion "is one of those things you think about that would be nice," Kuehnl said. "You think you're doing a good job, but you just never let your mind believe you'll get it." It was her job effort that earned her notice and the subsequent STEP nomination by Col. Ralph Praeger, director of the Human Resources Directorate. "She's the cornerstone of the strongest Personnel Readiness Unit in the command," he said. "She's an NCOIC with tremendous knowledge, stamina and poise. Kuehnl said she and her fellow workers spent many a 12- - to day sure the were making right people tasked to go to the desert, cutting 18-ho- ur their orders and setting up processing lines to make sure they were ready to go. Hilltop T.mes .Sept. 13, 1991 i imj.iin.no ii .ami ipu, J ' .mm .jIM,iii,Ji iijiM.i.ir.wi tm VI-i- A-' L -- ' - - U S Air Force Photo by Ned Word Surprise Maj. Gen. Dale W. Thompson Jr. slips new tech sergeant stripes around Lisa Kuehnl's arm, signifying her on-the-sp- ot ;4We lived in (Bldg. 180) for most of August (1990) and again in the middle of January this year" when Desert Storm kicked off, she said. It was during this time she found herself making decisions she'd never had to make before. Decisions like whether or not to wake up the entire base at 3 a.m., because a tasking had come in for 150 civil engineering people. Making decisions like that isn't often delegated to someone of her rank. But because she had the support and confidence of Praeger and her more immediate boss, Maj. Deborah Davis, Kuehnl said her decisions were backed up by her superiors. "It felt good to have the responsibility and the authority to get those HAHVEST promotion. kinds of things done." The first person Kuehnl rushed to tell about her Friday promotion was her father, a retired Air Force senior master sergeant. While she'll remember Thompson for pinning on the stripes, she said her response means as much. "The thing I'll probably remember the most out of the confusion of being there it's all a blur was when he asked, 'Should we promote her?'" rs' She remembers cheers and clapping. "That felt good because that was direct feedback. Everybody's come up and tacked my stripe on. "It's nice when your superiors think you deserve it, but when the folks you work with and the people who work for you think you deserve it, that's great. It really feels good." DAK,' 3uy a GOLDEN CHOIC E BUFFET and get a stea: for only CHOOSE A 512 OZ. USD A CHOICE SIRLOIN OR CHICKENCOUNTRY FRIED STEAK Choice of Potato or Rice Pilaf PLEASE NO SHARING. LIMITED TIME ONLY AT PARTICIPATING GOLDEN CORRAL RESTAURANTS. oi99iGoUenConaiCapoaticn mm J:) v C7l m Great Taste, Great Prices, Great Value 293 South State, Clearfield |