Recent arrival to Financial Management becomes its Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jonathan Hehnly
  • 911 AW/PA
PITTSBURGH IAP ARS --  They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but that wasn't the case with Senior Master Sgt. Brian D. Henderson. Senior Master Sgt. Henderson was in the civil engineering career field for more than 20 years, when he decided to meet a new challenge and cross-train into the financial management realm in 2009. The superintendent of heavy equipment turned financial management comptroller has made a dynamic start to the financial management career field Chief Master Sgt. Brian L. Zator, 911th Airlift Wing Chief, Financial Management said.

"His achievements stand out so well," said Chief Zator. "For him to accomplish the things he has so early in his new career says a lot about him and is a testament to his dedication to the career field."

Senior Master Sgt. Henderson received the Financial Management Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year award for his outstanding achievement and performance Jan. 5.

Among Senior Master Sgt. Henderson's many achievements, the one that stands out the most to Chief Master Sgt. Zator is his attention to the Yellow Ribbon program.

"I had the opportunity to go to the event at Kalahari and was able to look at how financial management interacted with members and I made suggestions," said Senior Master Sgt. Henderson. "They liked my suggestions and invited me back to work other events and train financial management members."

The Office of the Secretary of Defense's Yellow Ribbon Program Coordinator, Richard C. Hamp, praised the senior master sergeant's creation of the finance readiness folder during the May 10 event at Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky, Ohio, as the "best practice" of all the Yellow Ribbon programs he had attended. His finance readiness folder relieved the members and their dependents of a lot of stress.

"Senior Master Sgt. Henderson took customer service and support of members who deployed and streamlined it," said Chief Zator.

"I was happy to get the chance to implement my ideas," said Senior Master Sgt. Henderson. "Sometimes people have great ideas, but don't get the chance to implement them."

Senior Master Sgt. Henderson has shown achievement not only in his innovative on-the-job techniques but also in his quest for education. The military pay team leader feels that it is especially important for him to be a strong role model for those under his supervision in training, whom he encourages to keep up with their Career Development Courses, Senior Master Sgt. Henderson said.

He has lead by example, achieving academic excellence at his 3-level school for financial management and completing both his 5 and 7-level CDC's in less than a year, while taking master-level courses at Duquesne University. The senior master sergeant tackled his 7-level CDC in just 12 days from its receipt.

Always anxious to gain knowledge, Senior Master Sgt. Henderson went above and beyond what is expected of a comptroller, and asked to take the Judge Advocate General School's- Deployed Fiscal Law and Contingency Contracting Course. He completed the course and it helped give him a broader understanding of his new career field, he said.

The financial management comptroller owes a lot of his accomplishments to the opportunities provided to him through the seasonal training program, by his mentor, Chief Zator, his unit, and the Air Force Reserve, Senior Master Sgt. Henderson said.

"It is a great award, but I didn't do it by myself," said the modest senior master sergeant. "A lot of teamwork went into it."

Because of Senior Master Sgt. Henderson's leadership and management skills he was chosen by Col. Jeffrey T. Pennington, 911th Airlift Wing commander, as the senior noncommissioned officer in charge of the compliance inspection preparation team. He is working alongside the likes of Capt. Tanaka Dunn and Lt. Col. Neil Hede to monitor and track problem areas in preparation for the upcoming compliance inspection in April 2011.

"I never would have imagined two years ago that I would be working in the headquarters building on the compliance team!" said Senior Master Sgt. Henderson. "I encourage young Airmen to take advantage of opportunities such as education and promotions, to find a mentor, and to not be narrow-sighted in their career. Take a chance, sometimes it pays off."