Ironwood woman, Senior Airman Nicole Rosga a member of the Duluth 148th Fighter Wing has been named the Minnesota Airman of the Year for the First Air Force.
As Joel Runck tells us, for this airman, it's a milestone in the making.
"She's very focused, she has a heavy schedule that she is balancing, so she's very focused, determined, and just good because she's getting results, you know, she's setting goals and she's accomplishing them." But her colleagues say her work has been nothing short of phenomenal.
As the 148th's Information Manager, Rosga's work consists mostly of managing computer data, and document handling. In addition she also heads up the 148th's fitness program. But she says her greatest learning experiences came during overseas deployments in Italy and Iraq, where she served at a hospital in Balad.
"Airman Rosga has been chosen as the 1st Air Force Airman of the Year and that's quite an honor. She's been here for a little less than 2 1/2 years or so at the 148th Fighter Wing and her resume is already quite extensive." However, this achievement has not been easy. As a full–time student at UMD, pursuing a biology degree in hopes of attending the university's medical school, fitting in all the commitments has proved to be challenging.
According to Nicole "It's been a balancing act right now nearing a fourth–year student and I still got sometime to go before I finish my degree."
Nicole was driving home to see her family in Ironwood Michigan when she received an urgent phone call. "I got a call from the command post, here actually, saying I had to call my commander and I was a little nervous about that." But her nerves calmed when she realized it was the phone call of a lifetime.
"It's quite an honor to be recognized, you know, just this little wing that I come from, and then just, I feel really proud to be able to represent the 148th.
With Airman of the Year at the state level under her belt, Rosga is now competing for the National title of airman of the year.
