May Featured Airman of the Month

  • Published
  • By A1C Ashley Ramirez
  • 146th Airlift Wing
CHANNEL ISLANDS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Calif. --  The 146th Airlift Wing is proud to feature Lt. Col. Steve Bradley as the May Featured Airman of the Month. Lt Col. Bradley is the OIC of administrative services for the 146th Medical Group and is this year's Field Grade Officer of the Year! Bradley oversees administrative services, supervises 3 officers and 5 enlisted Airmen, and serves as Senior Medical Readiness Officer. Congratulations Lt. Col. Bradley!

1. When did you enlist in the Air Force, how long have you been in the service?
I did the delayed enlistment program back in April of 1983. I then went to Basic Training in December 1983 for Active Duty, but I Palace Chased into the Van Nuys ANG in June 1985 and have been here ever since.

2. What motivated you to enlist in the Air Force?
Actually, I enlisted as a way to finish my last two years of college. The plan was to do four years of Active Duty and at the same time, finish my college degree with a degree in Business Administration. It seemed like a sound plan since every base offered college courses that I would have been able to take. However, the plan pretty much lost a wheel or two when I was assigned to an installation Squadron at Norton AFB that was TDY for well over 300 days a year.

3. How has being an Airman changed your point of view on life?
It gave me a view about "Country" that only a past and present military member can appreciate. I can basically sum it up by the takeaways people would have from let's say a movie like "Band of Brothers." Non-military people will appreciate the sacrifices that these men made as well as the hardships they endured, but will be appalled at the depravity that mankind can stoop to. They have little real empathy for those fighting men as they just can't possibly understand what they went through. Even though our tours of duty are light years away from those WWII veterans, we military personnel can appreciate what our forebears faced both in the line of duty and back home. We have similar heart strings that get tugged on from time to time as we maneuver through life and that is what makes us different from the majority of society.

4. What's the most important lesson you've learned in the military?
We are better when we're part of a TEAM, than when we operate as individuals.

5. What is your favorite part/memory about the Air Force?
I can't say it was Panama! In all seriousness, going to Iraq will be one of my highlights of my career.

6. If you could deploy anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Why, can you help me get it? I would have to say it would be Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica as not many can say they have been there.

7. If you could choose any Air Force job, which would it be? Why?
Since I enjoy what I do as well as the people around me, I am content with my current AFSC, working at the Medical Group as a MSC Officer.

8. Where did you grow up?
Lancaster, CA

9. What is your civilian job?
I am the CFO of a small construction firm where I work with my brother.

10. What are your hobbies?
Haven't had a lot of time for them as of late, but I enjoy hunting and hiking.

11. What would people be surprised to know about you?
That I never intended to make a career out of the ANG and yet here I sit, well past the receipt of my 20-year letter.

May Featured Airman of the Month

  • Published
  • By A1C Ashley Ramirez
  • 146th Airlift Wing
CHANNEL ISLANDS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Calif. --  The 146th Airlift Wing is proud to feature Lt. Col. Steve Bradley as the May Featured Airman of the Month. Lt Col. Bradley is the OIC of administrative services for the 146th Medical Group and is this year's Field Grade Officer of the Year! Bradley oversees administrative services, supervises 3 officers and 5 enlisted Airmen, and serves as Senior Medical Readiness Officer. Congratulations Lt. Col. Bradley!

1. When did you enlist in the Air Force, how long have you been in the service?
I did the delayed enlistment program back in April of 1983. I then went to Basic Training in December 1983 for Active Duty, but I Palace Chased into the Van Nuys ANG in June 1985 and have been here ever since.

2. What motivated you to enlist in the Air Force?
Actually, I enlisted as a way to finish my last two years of college. The plan was to do four years of Active Duty and at the same time, finish my college degree with a degree in Business Administration. It seemed like a sound plan since every base offered college courses that I would have been able to take. However, the plan pretty much lost a wheel or two when I was assigned to an installation Squadron at Norton AFB that was TDY for well over 300 days a year.

3. How has being an Airman changed your point of view on life?
It gave me a view about "Country" that only a past and present military member can appreciate. I can basically sum it up by the takeaways people would have from let's say a movie like "Band of Brothers." Non-military people will appreciate the sacrifices that these men made as well as the hardships they endured, but will be appalled at the depravity that mankind can stoop to. They have little real empathy for those fighting men as they just can't possibly understand what they went through. Even though our tours of duty are light years away from those WWII veterans, we military personnel can appreciate what our forebears faced both in the line of duty and back home. We have similar heart strings that get tugged on from time to time as we maneuver through life and that is what makes us different from the majority of society.

4. What's the most important lesson you've learned in the military?
We are better when we're part of a TEAM, than when we operate as individuals.

5. What is your favorite part/memory about the Air Force?
I can't say it was Panama! In all seriousness, going to Iraq will be one of my highlights of my career.

6. If you could deploy anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Why, can you help me get it? I would have to say it would be Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica as not many can say they have been there.

7. If you could choose any Air Force job, which would it be? Why?
Since I enjoy what I do as well as the people around me, I am content with my current AFSC, working at the Medical Group as a MSC Officer.

8. Where did you grow up?
Lancaster, CA

9. What is your civilian job?
I am the CFO of a small construction firm where I work with my brother.

10. What are your hobbies?
Haven't had a lot of time for them as of late, but I enjoy hunting and hiking.

11. What would people be surprised to know about you?
That I never intended to make a career out of the ANG and yet here I sit, well past the receipt of my 20-year letter.