Page 4 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt May 5 2017

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May 2017 SPOTLIGHT
ALS graduates 46 senior airmen
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Thunderbolt http://www.luke.af.mil
Staff agencies announce ‘best’ for quarter
The following individuals are quarterly award winners:
56th Fighter Wing Staff Agencies
Airman: Senior Airman Michael Brooks, 56th FW Legal NCO: Tech. Sgt. Nikki Walberg, 56th FW Legal
Senior NCO: Master Sgt. Catherine Spiczka, 56th FW
Legal
Company grade officer: Capt. Derek VanderMolen, 56th
FW Chapel
Field grade officer: Maj. Saleem Razvi, 56th FW Legal Civilian (Category I): Yvonne Johnson. 56th FW Legal Civilian (Category II): Sharon Kozak, 56th FW Commu-
nity Support
Civilian (Category III): Chelsea Owens, 56th Comptroller
Squadron
Most audacious team: 56th FW Inspector General
AF names 56th FW outstanding unit
The following wing received an Air Force-level award:
Outstanding Unit - July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016 56th Fighter Wing
“This award recognizes all of your ef-
forts and contributions made across our
wing from the 550th Fighter Squadron
in Oregon, the 56th Operations Group,
Detachment 1 in Tucson, through the 54th Fighter Group in New Mexico,” said Brig. Gen. Brook Leonard, 56th FW commander.
Sherri Bir- inger, 56th Force Sup- port Squad- ron fitness specialist supervisor, poses next to an ab work- out machine April 1 in the Combat Fit- ness Center at Luke Air Force Base. Biringer is
a certified CrossFit in- structor and trains Airmen on achieving their physical goals.
The 56th Fighter Wing Airman Leadership School graduated 46 senior airmen March 30 from class 17-3:
The award winners are:
John L. Levitow: Ryan Miller, 56th Civil Engineer Squadron
Distinguished graduates: Drake Keske 756th Air- craft Maintenance Squadron; Jan Diazgarcia, 56th Maintenance Group; Joshua Murray 56th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Gisele Adanlete-Engram, 56th Medical Support Squadron
Commandant’s award winner: Jan Diazgarcia 56th MXG
Academic achievement: Joshua Murray,
56th LRS
Other graduates are:
56th Fighter Wing
James, Rozell
56th Operations Support Squadron
Dakota Havens, Yesenia Hernandez, Daniel Kilby, Humberto Morales and Richard Situmorang
607th Air Control Squadron
Anthony Cordova, Alexander Ramon and Ross Rivera
56th Component Maintenance Squadron
Deven Frank and Matthew Roberts
56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron
Antony Barbero, Ronald Gilbert and Roderic Roesel
56th AMXS
Kylethomas Alcudia, Jovann Durazo, Robert Ellis,
Brandon Freeman, Michael Green, Thomas Johnson, Alexander Long, Kendra Rollins, Derek Thayer, Gar- ret Toole and Martin Varela
756th AMXS
Kai Moua and David Williams
56th Security Forces Squadron
Cameron Rose and Shayn Tinseth
56th CES
Demitrius Benoit
56th Communications Squadron
Elizabeth Roman
56th LRS
Darius France and Michael Shirley
56th Medical Operations Squadron
Kenai Crenshaw, Manuel Mendoza and Katelyn Rivera
944th Medical Squadron
Chenye Arnaout and Crystal Munoz
Detachment 9, ACC Training Sup- port Squadron
Daniel Wagner
161st Maintenance Squadron
Being warrior fit vital to mission
Justin Lewis
162nd MXS
Francisco Lopez
Courtesy of Tech. Sgt. Danielle Cook, 56th Force Support Squadron
Story and photo by Senior Airman DEVANTE WILLIAMS
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Fitness is a key component in achieving the mission at Luke Air Force Base: Building the future of airpower. With fitness, Airmen are able to achieve physical and spiritual health. For Sherri Biringer, 56th Force Sup- port Squadron fitness specialist supervisor, her love of fitness grew through a type of workout called CrossFit.
CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. These movements reflect the best aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. These are the core movements of life. They move the largest loads the longest distances, so they are ideal for maximizing the amount of work done in the shortest time.
Biringer didn’t know what CrossFit was until then Brig. Gen. Kurt Neubauer, 56th Fighter Wing commander, put her in charge of the program in 2008.
“Neubauer said ‘Learn it because you’ll be instructing it.’ Up to that point, I had never touched a barbell. I was a yoga and an aerobics instructor, so coming from that
was a huge step, but after diving into it, I fell in love with it.”
Biringer has been performing and train- ing Airmen on warrior fitness since 2008, and continues to do so due to the positive results she’s seen.
“I know it works,” she said. “I’ve seen where it has taken people from being overweight to being healthy. CrossFit is a program that pushes you past your limits to fulfill the need to be successful in any form of life.”
What keeps Biriniger going is her family and co-workers support.
“My parents were my life’s inspiration, and they directed me to the world of sports and fitness,” she said. “I have five kids and raised them alone for the last 14 years. They stand behind me in my efforts to compete in whatever I do. I love my job and am very lucky to have bosses who believe in me and let me use my imagination to come up with ideas to help everyone succeed in their goals.”
Biringer and two other Luke members re- cently competed in the CrossFit Open 2017, which was a worldwide event. The number of competitors in each category is listed along with where each Luke member placed.
STANDINGS
Sherri Biringer Brook Leonard Shaun Chaplin
SW Placed Worldwide
2,000 19 25,000 3,500 111 60,000 38,000 3,967 900,000
Placed
365 1,665 89,448