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Enlisted aviator nabs honor at Travis AFB

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Timothy Boyer
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  It was described as a bitter-sweet moment by Lt. Col. Glen Goss, 6th Air Refueling Squadron commander, as he presented Tech. Sgt. Ben Hopp with the Meritorious Service Medal followed by the U.S. Air Force's Staff Sgt. Henry E. "Red" Erwin Award for Outstanding Career Enlisted Aviator of the Year on Aug. 12.

The moment was bitter-sweet because during the same ceremony he was receiving these awards, Hopp was also receiving his farewell gifts since he was leaving for Scott Air Force Base, Ill., the following week.

"Sergeant Hopp has been a phenomenal member of this team," Goss said. "He'll be back, and when he is, I am confident Ben will have more stripes on his sleeve."

Hopp, 6th ARS training flight chief and KC-10 instructor flight engineer at the time, managed 3,000 training requirements. He also conducted more than 2,800 missions, offloading over 100-million gallons of fuel and 2.6 million pounds of cargo with a 99 percent completion rate.

The Air Force-level "Red" Erwin Award recognizes career enlisted aviators for outstanding job accomplishments, demonstration of leadership and sustained self-improvements in support of the enlisted aircrew operations career field.

In addition to this award, Hopp won the 60th Air Mobility Wing Instructor of the Year award and was the 60th Operations Group NCO of the Year award winner.

Hopp said he was forced into the career-field when he ended up on the NCO retraining program list and was told he would either be working on KC-10 Extenders or would no longer be in the Air Force. He tried to get out of the career field with no success. Left with no choice, he entered the KC-10 world and chose to embrace it.

He later excelled as a supervisor and interim first sergeant.

"I really tried to be there when somebody needed to talk," he said. "That's what I've tried to do."

On his way to Scott AFB, Hopp reflected on his time at Travis with a smile on his face.
"
It's been a great ride," he said.