OAY Spotlight: Beaming leadership earns ACC award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alexandra Singer
  • 633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Every year the Outstanding Airmen of the Year awards are earned by service members who exemplify what it means to be a great Airman in the U.S. Air Force.

This year U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Melissa Beam, Air Combat Command Air Force Specialty Manager, earns the Air Combat Command Senior Non-commissioned officer OAY award.

“Being the ACC Senior Non-commissioned  OAY nominee is humbling and mind blowing,” said Beam. “I did not do it alone and must give credit where credit is due. My Airmen are rock stars who give 110 perecent to the Air Force, the mission and the unit.”

Beam had many reasons to earn the award, including leading a team of 134 total-force Airmen, civilians, and contractors conducting operations in support of Central Command’s Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve and Combined Forces Air Component Command’s J2. She also completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Intelligence Studies and is currently pursuing her Master’s.

Beam acknowledges how important pursuing higher education is, and encourages her Airmen to do the same.

“I am a firm believer of training your replacement and reducing or eliminating the single point of failure,” said Beam. “I continuously mentor, mold the junior Airmen on not only life, but how to perform front-line supervisor duties, coupled with their job requirements of critical thinking/analysis.”

Beam’s mentorship and hard work was recognized by not only her Airmen, but her supervision.

“Senior Master Sergeant Beam epitomizes the whole Airman concept,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nishawn Smagh, 497th Operation Support Squadron commander. “She always strives to better herself and her Airmen. Through innovation, Senior Master Sergeant’s Beam's team pioneered tactics, techniques and procedures to fuse multiple intelligence disciplines, near-real time, in order to pinpoint and characterize activity that served as the catalyst for dynamic targeting, deliberate targeting, and indications and warning for deployed warfighters.”

As for the future, Beam aims to continue to mentor and mold her airmen.

“My future Air Force goals are first and foremost to be the best SNCO I can be,” said Beam. “But I would also like to make Chief one day and truly take care of my Airmen in a way that I never could previously.”

The winners of the ACC OAY will compete at the U.S. Air Force level with all other MAJCOMS to determine the Air Force Outstanding Airmen of the Year.