Second Air Force honors four Published March 10, 2010 By Angela Cutrer Keesler News staff KEESLER AFB, Ms. -- Some familiar Keesler names showed up on the 2nd Air Force list of annual award winners announced Feb. 24. That's because the Feb. 18 81st Training Wing's 2009 awards banquet had just honored three of those listed. Tech. Sgt. Noah Vaughan, 335th Training Squadron weather instructor supervisor, is 2nd Air Force's noncommissioned officer of the year. Sergeant Vaughan had 839 hours of podium credit for the year, exceeding AETC requirements by 625 percent. He achieved master instructor certification, authored 140 curriculum hours, upgraded eight weather system servers and integrated realism into 3-level training by creating 40 forecast scenarios and 180 special weather notices. He completed his bachelor's degree, headed the nerve center for the wing's air show, chaired a 50-member Habitat for Humanity team that built two houses, recruited 78 new members for the Air Force Sergeants Association and was military member of the year for the Orange Grove/Lyman Chamber of Commerce. Sergeant Vaughan was also noncommissioned officer of the year for the 81st TRW. Florence Clay, 334th TRS budget assistant, was the winner in the civilian category. She executed $2.3 million for six flights and 14 financial programs, including $1.4 million in acquisitions for the squadron's new dorm. She's completed 18 credits toward her doctorate in business and is using newly-acquired skills on the job as she works on her dissertation. She coordinated the base chapel's 38th anniversary of its gospel program and has raised funds for cancer research. Named by the 81st TRW as civilian category I winner, she is AETC's nominee for the Air Force Blacks in Government Meritorious Ser-vice Award. Richard Brock, the 81st TRW's civil law chief, is 2nd Air Force's civilian supervisor category II winner. Mr. Brock Brock authored more than 400 legal opinions and served more than 1,000 legal assistance clients, producing 775 documents with savings of $200,000. He mentored five attorneys and four paralegals on complex civil law issues and led the top Volunteer Income Tax Program in the state, preparing more than 2,020 federal and 1,590 state returns with client savings of more than $390,000. A member of the U.S. Tennis Association and the Gulf Coast Rifle and Pistol Club, he is active in his church and serves as adjunct professor for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Master Sgt. Monita McCowan, 8lst Force Support Squadron, was named base honor guard program manager for the year. Sergeant McCowan's accomplishments include managing four flights of 32 honor guardsmen as the primary liaison among 140 funeral directors in a 48,000-square mile radius; supervising 143 color guard ceremonies; performing 469 military funeral honors in 68 counties and parishes, traveling 106,000 miles; and recognition as the Keesler's senior noncommissioned officer for the fourth quarter of 2009.