Colorado’s Best: AFA Honors Airmen, Guardians, and Civilians Across Mountain State

The AFA Colorado State’s annual awards banquet last August was no minor affair: When the 36 individual nominees entered the banquet hall, they were met by air horns, bells, cheers, and pounding on the tables from their nearly 170 attendees. Nominees, winners, and guests came from Peterson, Schriever, and Buckley Space Force Bases; Colorado AFROTC Detachments; the U.S. Air Force Academy; and all four AFA Chapters in Colorado. 

The widely attended event connects senior military leadership, AFA members, and corporate sponsors in recognizing the Active Duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen, Guardians, Cadets and Civilians in Colorado units that continue to make our Air & Space Forces the greatest in the world. All military and government civilians were presented with certificates for their placement as a top three nomination, and the winner in each category received a beautifully carved wooden coin tray inscribed with their name and the title of the award.

This years military winners were:

• Airman of the Year: Senior Airman Quinton Wilson, SpOC 460 CES
• Guardian of the Year: Specialist 3 Christopher D. Sims, STARCOM 527 SAS

The event also recognized 17 outstanding AFA Volunteers from the four Colorado Chapters (Lance P. Sijan 125, Mile High 127, Mel Harmon 128, and Robert E. Huyser 408). Those recipients are now the proud owners of engraved pen sets for Medals of Merit, AFA shirts for Exceptional Service Awards, beer mugs for Presidential Awards, and jackets for Superior Excellence Awards as a well-deserved thank you for their hours of service.

The Colorado Chapter and State Teachers of the Year were also honored at the event, for their contributions to STEM excellence in Colorado classrooms. In addition to the standard monetary prizes and gifts provided the program, each educator received a book personally autographed by Medal of Honor recipient Drew Dix.

The evening culminated with the announcement of the Colorado AFA Member of the Year from Mel Harmon Chapter, Pueblo, Colo.: Mike Sumida. Sumida is well known for establishing StellarXplorers and CyberPatriot teams at local schools, and for being a docent at the Weisbrod Aircraft Museum and the AFA presence on multiple city committees.

The annual awards banquet was made possible through the corporate donations of Tensley Consulting, Inc.; City Light and Power Engineering; Kearney & Company; the AFA Mile High Chapter; and many member donations given to sponsor the nominees.