JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
The Diamond Sharp Award is sponsored by the Joint Base San Antonio First Sergeants Council and recognizes outstanding Airmen who continually exceed the standard to meet the Air Force mission.
Rank/Name: Tech. Sgt. Mariana M. Dahlberg
Unit: 59th Medical operations Squadron
Duty title: Emergency Medical Services Section Chief
Time in service: 14 years
Hometown: Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Tech. Sgt. Mariana M. Dahlberg was the interim first sergeant for 10 days, during which she faced multiple significant events. First, one of her members was involved in a car accident to which she responded to support the member. Additionally, one of her members was injured during an attempted robbery. Dahlberg reacted to the incident, contacted the law enforcement agencies involved and coordinated with the casualty assistance office to support the critically wounded member. She epitomized what it means to be a first sergeant and continues to do so as lead of the Department of Defense’s busiest emergency center.
Rank/Name: Staff Sgt. Najwan H. Alobaidi
Unit: 33rd Network Warfare Squadron
Duty title: Maintenance Focal Point Supervisor
Time in service: 6 ½ years
Hometown: Baghdad, Iraq
Staff Sgt. Najwan H. Alobaidi took it upon himself to assist the JBSA-Lackland testing with updating their 20 language computers. His help was not requested, but he was in the center for his own test when he saw the need and jumped into action. On his own time, while leveraging his knowledge of Powershell®, he was able to update the Air Force’s largest testing center. This helped JBSA-Lackland linguists, Foreign Area Officers, International Health Specialists, and Language Enabled Airman Program members save an incalculable amount of time on financial issues so their special duty pay would not be delayed.
Rank/Name: Staff Sgt. Trisha Farala
Unit: Joint Personal Property Shipping Office
Duty title: Movement Support Lead
Time in service: 10 years, 9 months
Hometown: Oxnard, California
Staff Sgt. Trisha Farala is a customer service supervisor at the Joint Personal Property Shipping Office-South Central. In January, Farala managed the Long Delivery and Inbound Shipping Programs providing assistance to 312 joint service members. She oversaw 36 long delivery requests, obligating $133,000 in transportation funds. She also expedited 38 direct procurement shipments, eliminating unnecessary storage days and saving $3,800 of government funds. Additionally, she rectified 19 data corrections, validating $1,000 in services rendered, resolving 238 calls and maintaining a 100% customer availability rate. Farala also garnered three credit hours towards her master's in healthcare administration degree.
Rank/Name: Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Layton
Unit: 319th Training Squadron Basic Expeditionary Airmen Skills Training, or BEAST
Duty title: Expeditionary Skills Instructor
Time in service: 10 years
Hometown: Newark, Delaware
Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Layton has been leading a team of NCOs that have been revamping the curriculum at Basic Military Training. His job knowledge and vast breadth of experience from prior training have propelled him to spearhead change towards the future of how Airmen and Guardians are trained. These changes will enable our Airmen and Guardians to be more proficient warfighters in a time when we have near-peer competition. The exercises Layton has penned and managed are aligned with our modern adversaries and the challenges our Airmen and Guardians will face for the foreseeable future.
Rank/Name: Senior Airman Sierra Iamaleava
Unit: 59th Dental Training Squadron
Duty title: Maxillofacial Prosthodontic Technician
Time in service: 4 Years
Hometown: Long Beach, California
Senior Airman Sierra Iamaleava is an enormous asset to our flight and was selected for an E-5 position, Maxillofacial Prosthodontics NCOIC, by the department director. She teamed with six clinics between Brooke Army Medical Center, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center and our dental group to provide critical treatment for wounded warriors and trauma patients. She improved the clinic by revamping the consults process, reviewing and organizing more than 700 referrals, while balancing patient care time. During an immersion tour, Iamaleava gave an informative briefing about the department’s mission to Brig. Gen. Robert Bogart, Command Surgeon, Headquarters Air Combat Command.
Rank/Name: Senior Airman Jacob S. Michael
Unit: 802nd Security Forces Squadron
Duty title: Unit Scheduler
Time in service: 3 Years, 11 months
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
As part of “National Mentoring Month,” Michael attended the “Mentor-centric” workshop hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy. Employing the learned skills from this course, he cultivated a groundbreaking training schedule for mid-shift workers. Through the application, he recovered 528 hours towards their work/rest cycle for nearly 88 enlisted and civilians. Furthermore, he stepped outside of his primary duties to aid the unit's training section by coaching 36 Airmen through Arming & Use of Force, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Adult/Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Automated External Defibrillator, and First Aid courses.