RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
He has jumped out of airplanes, worked in temperatures 10 degrees below zero and been attacked by military working dogs, and he has done it all with a smile on his face and a camera in his hand.
Tech. Sgt. Matthew Hannen, Air Education and Training Command's Torch magazine photo journalist, was promoted to technical sergeant April 6 under the Stripes for Exceptional Performers Program by General William R. Looney III, AETC commander. According to officials, only 1.25 percent of promotion eligible Airmen will be STEP promoted this year.
"Sergeant Hannen consistently goes above and beyond his assigned duties, combining first-class photojournalism with a professional, hard-working attitude," the general said. "His efforts greatly enhance Torch magazine, which serves a vital purpose in AETC and the Air Force by communicating how important it is for us to take care of ourselves and each other so we're able to safely perform our mission."
Sergeant Hannen is the only photojournalism at Torch and has been working there for 10 months. Photo journalists are part of the Combat Camera Air Force Specialty Code but they have a special education identifier noting a 10-month photojournalism course at Syracuse University.
"What they teach us is how to go a little deeper and find that interesting thing in each story that most people wouldn't think about," Sergeant Hannen said. "I go in on everything I do thinking about that."
The promotion ceremony was a surprise, but Sergeant Hannen's boss, Tim Barela, Torch editor, was in on it.
"Things have been weird the past couple of weeks," Sergeant Hannen said. "I was at Lackland working on a story that week and my boss called and said 'We need you to be in the office Friday for another interview.'"
"I knew something was up when my wife said he had called her and told her she needed to be there Friday to help me with the interview," he said.
Sergeant Hannen said when he got to work on Friday, everyone was shining their boots and making sure everything was spotless.
"Everyone was being quiet and not telling me anything," he said. "When I went out to my car to get my tape recorder for the interview, I noticed there was a spot on the curb for General Looney, and I thought, okay, something is going on."
Sergeant Hannen and his wife, Marissa, walked into the conference room for the "interview" and were soon joined by the General, who presented Sergeant Hannen with his new rank.
The best part about achieving the rank is people better understand his job as the NCOIC of photojournalism at Torch, Sergeant Hannen said.
"Most people would expect me to say money, and obviously that's up there," Sergeant Hannen said. "But the best part for me is that I'm in a technical sergeant slot and I finally get to live up to that."
Sergeant Hannen said the best advice he could give to someone who would want to be put up for a STEP promotion would be first, having a great chain of command.
Mr. Barela offered some words about why he chose to nominate Sergeant Hannen for STEP.
"Matt has a tremendous amount of talent, a passion for the job and he matches that with a great work ethic," Mr. Barela said. "He's very teachable, and basically a supervisor's dream."
"What makes him special is that he'll go the extra mile for the story," he said.
Sergeant Hannen said the second most important thing is continually trying to exceed your boss' expectations.
"If you know they expect something, go two and three steps further, so there's no doubt in your supervisor's mind that you should be nominated," Sergeant Hannen said.
"To be STEP promoted, and have a rank handed to you unexpectedly, it's just a great feeling - I didn't stop smiling for the next three days."