News

Reservist wins national award

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Reed Robertson
  • 446th Airlift Wing
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  At the heart of every firefighter is the undeniable need to help others within, around, or well beyond his own community. At the heart of every Airman are the core values of Integrity First, Service before Self, Excellence in All We Do. What do you get when you mix both? You get the National Guard/Reserve recipient of the 2006 GEICO Military Service Award.
Master Sgt. Scott Dellinger, a loadmaster with the 728th Airlift Squadron, was selected to win this award at the Air Force Reserve Command level and went on to compete against National Guardsmen and Reservists from every branch of the military.
In February, Lt. Col. David Degennaro, 728th Airlift Squadron commander, received a phone call from the Office of the Secretary of Defense Reserve Affairs office notifying him that Sergeant Dellinger had been selected as the national award winner.
"Sergeant Dellinger was chosen for this award because of his work in fire prevention and safety," said Colonel Degennaro. 
A perfect example of his work in fire safety can be found in his recent trip to El Grullo, Mexico.
As a nine-year veteran firefighter for the city of Kent, Wash., he is also part of a non-profit organization that recently went down to the small town in Mexico to give critical fire fighting and emergency medical training and equipment to the town of 25,000 people, mostly sugarcane farmers.
"Fire departments from the city of Kent and neighboring departments donated a fire engine, all of the necessary clothing and equipment, and even went to a local hospital to donate some medical equipment," Sergeant Dellinger said. "We drove the fire engine down to El Grullo three weeks prior to our trip and then returned to prepare our team to go down to provide training."
While the team was in El Grullo for three weeks, there were obvious culture barriers, both in language and in medical practices.
"While we were eating at a restaurant, there was a medical emergency just outside where we were. The 15 of us dropped everything to run out there and began CPR as needed and were confronted by one of the local first responders who had a different idea of what CPR was. Fortunately, one of our firefighters spoke Spanish and settled it all out."
Sergeant Dellinger and his fellow firefighters who went on this trip, sacrificed their own time and money to go to this small town and perform this very crucial training.
"El Grullo had no fire response ability," he said. He asked one of the locals, "What would happen if the sugarcane plant should catch fire? Would a neighboring community give fire assistance if that happened?"
Sergeant Dellinger was told that because of jurisdiction issues, no assistance would ever be given and that the plant would be lost.
"I was excited to be able to go give this training to these volunteers in El Grullo," the sergeant said. They were so appreciative that we would come and donate such important equipment and training."
"The 728th is proud of Sergeant Dellinger," his commander said. Colonel Degennaro also said, "He exemplifies the citizen Airman and is very deserving of this national award."
Next for Sergeant Dellinger is a trip to Washington D.C. for he and his wife for the award ceremony where he'll receive a cash award and several prizes.