Sergeant stands up as example of resilience

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Randy Kay
  • 6th Air Refueling Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  In October, the 6th Air Refueling Squadron will lose a great Airman, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Barber.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines "resiliency" as the ability to become strong, healthy or successful again after something bad happens. The 6th ARS has an Airman who is the epitome of resiliency.

When I first arrived at the 6th ARS at Travis in September 2011, I met several young Airmen who really impressed me. I sat down and talked to them and learned their stories. 

As I was meeting them, one Airman told me about his struggles.  He joined the Air Force in September 2008, arriving at the base in January 2009. Like many new Airmen, he lived in the dormitories and was briefed about the zero tolerance of alcohol use in the dorms.

In the fall of 2009, he bought and consumed alcohol in his dormitory room. The next morning, the first sergeant conducted room inspections and found his alcohol. The Airman admitted his wrongdoing and accepted full blame, receiving an Article 15, UIF, was placed on a control roster and received a referral performance report.

Many Airmen may start to spiral downhill and never fully recover after a mistake like this, but this Airman only wanted to prove himself and regain the trust of his friends, family, coworkers and supervisors. His work performance was truly outstanding and after being removed from the control roster, he started performing duties as a base honor guardsman and started winning squadron and group-level awards. In spring of 2012, he was selected to become an instructor boom operator, completed Airman Leadership School as a distinguished graduate and was the 60th AMW Airman of the Year for 2012.

In the summer of 2013, he was selected for promotion to staff sergeant, upgraded to evaluator, was a key member in the squadron winning the 2013 Senior Master Sergeant Albert Evans Award recognized as the best air refueling section in the Air Force and completed his bachelor's degree in the fall of 2014. 


He informed me that he wished to apply for Officer Training School, we sat down and discussed this in great detail, about this challenge ahead of him. He understood that his chance for selection would be small due to his prior Article 15. He was upbeat and said that if he didn't get selected, he would continue being the best evaluator boom operator that he could be.

This past March, many of us anxiously awaited the OTS selection announcements, only to see the board delayed until April. On April 29, the squadron commander was informed that this Airman had been selected for OTS.

I would be honored to salute this future Air Force officer in January 2016.
Congratulations Staff Sgt. Kenneth Barber. You are the definition of a resilient Airman and have made your family and friends, co-workers, supervisors, leadership and Travis AFB proud.