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Charles North Wins AETC Readiness Civilian of the Year for 2009

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Cherice Bryant
  • 97 Air Mobiliy Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Charles W. North, 97th Air Mobility Wing Inspections deputy chief, is the Air Education and Training Command Readiness Civilian of the Year for 2009.

This award is given to the most outstanding civilians whose hard work and contributions play a large role in the base's performance throughout the year.

According to his nomination, the leadership and guidance Mr. North provided greatly improved the installation's disaster response force. He consistently demonstrated superior work while creating and evaluating a total of 32 real-world incident exercises. His efforts greatly improved the installation's ability to be prepared for any contingency and response, and ultimately led the base to receive a rating of "Excellent" for the AETC Unit Compliance Inspection.

In addition to being an outstanding leader, Mr. North was the recipient of the 2009 Altus AFB Mid-level Civilian of the Year and the 2009 Altus AFB "Unsung Hero" award. 

"This is not a one-person show. I have been fortunate to work for and with outstanding personnel," Mr. North said.

Among Mr. North's long list of contributions to the base, he tested severe weather response plans helping safeguard more than 4,500 base personnel, continuously prepped wing leadership in installation control center operations, corrected installation response shortfalls and helped the base to receive a pass rate of 96 percent in the most recent exercise, which is a huge wing improvement.

Mr. North created top-notch exercise handbooks serving as exercise roadmaps and containing objectives, timelines and assignments, according to the nomination package. His work helped bridge the gaps between agencies during exercises by integrating operations between exercise plans and mission support group leaders. He helped ensure the 97th AMW readiness status is above and beyond standards, and that the wing's leaders are always well informed.

Mr. North served 20 years in the Air Force and retired as a master sergeant. His previous jobs include maintenance operations center aircraft production controller and he has worked in management and program analysis within wing plans before becoming deputy chief of wing inspections.