SrA Jillian Miranda, AETC award winner

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Garrett Cole
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Senior Airman Jillian R. Miranda is the 2009 AETC Aviation Management Airman of the Year.

A typical day at Altus for Airman Miranda consists of in-processing, briefing, building and maintaining flight crew records, and initiates student's aviation service, all before any student is qualified to begin training.

"Everything basically to do with flight crew...it's our job to make sure that they are good to fly. We initiate all aviation services," she said. "The planes don't go up until we clear them to fly, they have to be physically and physiologically."

This award is only awarded to those who excel though the MAJCOM level in their respective career field. Airman Miranda expressed her gratitude that all of her hard work paid off.

"For me it's important because it shows that all hard work and dedication, because I do work very hard, and I'm very passionate about what I do and it shows me that obviously I'm doing the right thing," she said.

Of her many accomplishments, Senior Airman Miranda performed 417 in-depth reviews of individual records, of which she validated 19,180 points of critical aviation info. She also authored a comprehensive continuity book which detailed clear information for the Host Aviation Resource Management or HARM procedures and reduced errors by 10 percent.

Airman Miranda is a native of Yuba City, Calif., and graduated from Marysville High School in Marysville, Calif., in June 2005. She is currently enrolled in University of Phoenix, pursuing her bachelor of science degree.

For Airmen who aspire to receive the same appreciation, Airman Miranda offers heartfelt advice.

"In our career field it's kind of hard, because it is an admin job, it's hard for Airmen to see the big picture, I know it was for me when I first got in," she said. "Because we do sit behind a desk and we do work on the computers. So for me my big thing is getting to know exactly what the impact of our job. Because we do have a big impact because if we don't do our job the planes don't fly, the aircrew members don't get into the jet and without them getting into the jet there would be no Air Force."