SMSgt. Rebecca McNelley, standardization and evaluation superintendent with the 90th Security Forces Group at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2016. McNelley pioneered the 90th Missile Wing’s first active-shooter exercise by partnering with the Wyoming Air National Guard and Army National Guard, preparing more than 8,000 personnel to avert such threats. She directed more than 1,000 evaluations and assessments for four squadrons, reducing the number of defenders posted in missile fields by 10 percent. McNelley engineered weekly missile field and weapons storage team visits, covering three squadrons and 17 flights, ensuring 1,200 security forces airmen were nuclear-security ready. She was proactive in the community, managing the Air Force’s largest Airman’s Attic program and overseeing her wing’s loan locker, assisting more than 3,000 families. Air Force Magazine is shining the spotlight on each OAY in the days leading up to AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, which starts Sept. 19 in National Harbor, Md. Also featured were: SMSgt. Mark Farmer and SMSgt. Jeremiah Grisham.
The head of the U.S. Air Force Academy on March 2 defended the school’s disciplinary program for students who violate the honor code, as House lawmakers questioned service academy superintendents on a recent spate of cheating scandals. “We have a very robust honor education system that starts from the day…