Whitworth wins Air Force award Published Sept. 7, 2011 By By Airman 1st Class Heather Heiney 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- This year, Master Sgt. Steven Whitworth not only attained the rank of master sergeant, moved to Keesler and became the 81st Training Wing staff agency first sergeant, but he also earned an Air Force-level award. Last year, Whitworth was stationed at Shriever Air force Base, Colo., as the operations support flight chief for the 4th Space Operations Squadron. That is where he earned the Air Force Space Operator of the Year award in the noncommissioned officer category. Whitworth contributed to the organizational mission and management goals in several ways. He led more than 120 members through Shriever's 2010 Operational Readiness Inspection, a $1.2 billion command and control system upgrade and a $580 million satellite vehicle launch. He diagnosed four on-orbit emergencies which expedited secure communications restoration by an hour and fostered an $800 million asset recovery. He also led contingency and real-world operations by identifying and clearing 10 combat mission ready members for backup satellite communications operations center-Vandenberg deployment. Whitworth's accomplishments were not confined to his primary duties. He completed a Community College of the Air Force degree in air and space operations within only five months while also attaining a bachelor's degree in criminal justice magna cum laude. He applied those classes to his squadron leadership. He also mentored three Airmen on their career development courses leading to scores over 90 percent.