An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Combat Airlifter of the Week: Staff Sgt. Joseph Tarantino

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Saisha Cornett
  • 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  

Name and Rank: Staff Sgt. Jospeh Tarantino

Unit: 373rd Training Squadron Detachment 4

Official Duty title: Aerospace Propulsions Instructor

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Time in service: 6 years

Time at Little Rock: 3 years

Goals: Pursue master's degree, and learn how to play guitar

Hobbies: Golf, traveling, and going to church

SSgt Joseph Tarantino teamed with Herkwerx to create a C-130J engine mat and augmenter valve clamp attachment to reduce the risk of dropped tools and hardware inside the engine compartment and decrease man hours.

Additionally, SSgt Tarantino led the trainer scheduling team, created a utilization tracker & boosted utilization rates 20%, collaborating with eight agencies for 5K hours of instruction.

Finally, SSgt Tarantino directed an eight-member disaster relief crew, clearing 1.2K pounds of debris from two damaged homes, which created safe living spaces & he received the Secretary of State's Arkansas Capitol Citation.