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AFGSC Senior NCO Receives Air Force-Level Award

  • Published
  • By Joe Thomas
  • Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Senior Master Sgt. Anthony Kloehr has dedicated his life to efficiency and best practices. As a result, he is now the Air Force-level winner for the FY 14 Air Force Outstanding Cyberspace Systems Award.

"We're presenting this award to Senior Master Sgt. Kloehr for his extraordinary performance and leadership in communications and cyber," said Gen. Robin Rand, Air Force Global Strike Command commander. "The great thing about this award is that it doesn't look at any one thing. It looks at the whole individual."

The award spans a year of accomplishments as the program manager for AFGSC's Plans and Policies section -- accomplishments that include the execution of more than $13 million in assets, as well as oversight for five Air Force-level projects across six wings.

"I try to get the government the best product at the best price," Kloehr said. "I've always looked at how we can do things better, and I always advocate for plans that won't cost us more in the long term."

However, efficiency is more than managing cost. Kloehr works to make sure all AFGSC communication systems are integrated properly and in accordance with Air Force and Department of Defense standards.

"You have to look at the grand scheme," he said. "You have to look at the DOD plan and the Air Force plan and make sure that your plan is aligned with them." 
For Kloehr, efficiency and cost management are part of a life-long habit; a mindset that stretches back to his childhood in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

"I would always recycle," he said. "I would always tell my mother that she couldn't throw something away, that it could be used or reused. Back then it was a lot of work because I had to separate everything myself. I never got paid. It was just the right thing to do. I've carried that mentality with me through life." 

In addition, Kloehr says he is driven by something more than mere efficiency. In a search for greater job stability and a higher calling, Kloehr decided to join the Air Force.

"I left a pretty lucrative job to join," he said. "I took a 40 percent pay cut, but I knew I had to find something different."

Kloehr added that he was also motivated to join by his brother who was an Airman at the time. With a college degree and work experience in a technical field, Kloehr sought a similar career path in the Air Force.

Throughout his career, Kloehr has applied his practical knowledge about Air Force communication systems to project development, an approach that has led him to receive this recent distinction. Despite his years of expertise, Kloehr remains humble, saying that the competition for this award was undoubtedly stiff. 

"I've been on award boards before, and a lot of times it just comes down to that one bullet," he said. "There isn't one single thing that I can point to that would single me out; I wouldn't even say that there were five things. When they look at people for these awards they look at scope of responsibility and execution." 

Although Kloehr remains humble about the receiving the award, those who work with Kloehr say that the recognition is more than deserved.

"Senior Master Sgt. Kloehr has continually proven himself an expert in his field and has significantly contributed to many modernization efforts for the command," said, Maj. Scott Papineau, Plans and Policies branch chief. "I'm very happy to see him recognized for all his hard work at such a high level."

Kloehr added that his main goal is to become a senior NCO at the command level so he can lead young Airmen and teach them the lessons he's learned throughout his career.