NCO receives AFMC award

  • Published
  • By Brian Brackens
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Kirtland Air Force Base, NM --  Staff Sgt. Jordan Bishopp, explosive ordnance disposal craftsman with the 377th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight at Kirtland Air Force Base, was honored March 31 as the Air Force Material Command's Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, at the command's annual awards banquet at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Sergeant Bishopp was honored for his leadership while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

During his deployment, Sergeant Bishopp successfully completed more than 120 counter improvised explosive device missions, neutralized 46 homemade bombs and is credited with saving more than 100 coalition lives.

He served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

Capt. Brandon Horii, commander of the 377th EOD Flight, said Sergeant Bishopp is an invaluable asset to the unit.

"He brings to our team a wealth of knowledge and experience from overseas assignments and deployments," he said. "In addition to his personal assets, he is a great mentor to our young Airmen. In a career field where bad decisions are the difference between life and death, developing new Airman is one of the most critical things we do. Sergeant Bishopp really shines in this area."

Working in EOD can be dangerous, but Sergeant Bishopp said he doesn't see it that way.

"I don't view my job as dangerous to start with," he said. "You can ask just about any other EOD guy, and they're not going to say that they're scared or that the job is dangerous. We have a healthy fear of explosives, but we rely on superior training and fall back on that training to mitigate a situation."

Sergeant Bishopp said a lesson he has learned, is to be adaptable.

"You can't go into any situation knowing everything," he said. "If you think you know what every IED is going to be like, or you know since you've been to Iraq, or you know what Afghanistan is going to be like, I learned very fast that everything that I learned in Iraq I had to throw out the window when I got to Afghanistan, just because of the terrain and different IEDs."

Sergeant Bishopp said he is thankful for the award, but acknowledges that there are others who deserve it, as well.

"There are a lot of other deserving people, to include a lot of people in the EOD community, who may not have got a chance to be submitted, and a lot of guys who are still overseas still doing the job while I'm sitting here, going to banquets and collecting awards."

Capt. Horii said the award is a reflection of Sergeant Bishopp's accomplishments.

"Just being nominated to compete at the major command level is a big deal," he said. "But winning in a MAJCOM as diverse as AFMC, which also includes two of the largest EOD units, is gi-normous."