RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Four Team Randolph Airmen were recently chosen to attend Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB, Ala.
Senior Airman Andrea Murcia and Tech. Sgts. Travis Hazelton, Jesse Beinhower and Renea Skelton, who are awaiting notification of their course's start date, are part of 308 men and women from across America who earned an opportunity to become Air Force officers, officials here announced April 3.
Air Force Recruiting Service officials considered 865 applications as part of Officer Training School Selection Board 09OT02, which selected 308 for a 36 percent selection rate, according to a story posted on Air Force Link April 3. Of the 308 selected, 162 enlisted members earned the chance to attend OTS and trade their stripes for gold bars as second lieutenants.
In the selection process, board members considered objective and subjective factors. Objectively, the board weighed each applicant's academic discipline, grade point average and Air Force Officer Qualifying Test scores, the story also said.
Subjectively, board members looked at work experience, accomplishments, adaptability, character, leadership ability, potential for future growth and other recommendations. For active-duty enlisted members, performance reports and commanders' recommendations are also evaluated, the story said.
The story also mentioned three Air Force colonels review every application in a process akin to an Air Force officer promotion board. No single factor leads to an individual's selection or nonselection, OTS selection officials said.
Selectees can expect class assignment information about two months after having their commissioning physicals certified.
Airman Murcia, 12th Comptroller Squadron customer service technician, is from Moline, Ill. She graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in information management systems and entered the Air Force three years ago wanting to become an officer but was advised to enlist first and then apply.
She was selected for OTS on her first attempt after working hard to gather documentation and recommendations well in advance of the submission deadline.
"I'm very excited," she said. "It's a great opportunity for myself and for my family -- and I can see what else I can do for the Air Force."
That something else will involve work in the acquisitions field upon commissioning, she added.
Sergeant Hazelton, 1st Manpower Readiness Squadron manpower analyst, will continue working in manpower and personnel services upon commissioning.
The Wellsboro, Pa., native and veteran of almost nine years in the Air Force, who graduated in May from Park University with a degree in management and computer information systems, also was selected for OTS on his first attempt after getting his bachelor's degree.
His advice for other OTS candidates is to pursue a degree and to "do your job well."
"I'd been planning to go for OTS for five years," Sergeant Hazelton said. "I just had to finish my school up."
Getting good grades in school is one thing that will help qualify an Airman for OTS, said Sergeant Beinhower, Air Education and Training Command's non-commissioned officer in charge of general officer executive information technology support.
The sergeant, a 10-year Air Force veteran who graduated from Emory-Riddle University in October, 2007, with a bachelor's degree in professional aeronautics, also recommended that OTS candidates take the Air Force Officer Qualification practice test.
"Work hard, don't get in trouble and have a good enlisted career," added the New Cumberland, Pa., native, who will work in space and missile operations upon commissioning.
Sergeant Beinhower, who was also selected for OTS on his first attempt, said he was excited about the opportunity to become an officer.
"It's been one of my goals since I joined the Air Force," he said.
Eleven-year Air Force veteran Sergeant Skelton, a St. Petersburg, Fla., native who calls Texas home, said she's honored to be selected for OTS and said she feels "shocked and blessed" about it.
"With the odds, I thought 'there's always someone more qualified,'" she said.
Sergeant Skelton, who earned a master's degree in human resources from Columbia Southern University and a bachelor's degree in business management from Peru State College, was also selected for OTS on her first try.
The sergeant, who was STEP-promoted to her present rank, will work in personnel and manpower services upon commissioning.
She advised fellow non-commissioned officers with good records and degrees to apply for OTS.
"If you have any inclination at all to do so, then do it," Sergeant Skelton said. "What you'll bring to the table is a lot of knowledge about your job and a lot of experience leading others."
For more information concerning OTS and the application process, active-duty members should contact the education office and civilians should contact the nearest Air Force recruiter.