A STEP above the rest

Published Jan. 13, 2015
By Senior Airman Stephanie Morris
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- The Stripes for Exceptional Performers program allows Major Commands, Field Operating Agencies and Direct Reporting Unit commanders and senior Air Force officers with large enlisted populations a limited opportunity to promote enlisted members to staff sergeant or technical sergeant.

The program was tested during fiscal year 1981 and implemented on a permanent basis the following year.

Tech. Sgt. Thomas Liscomb, 54th Helicopter Squadron UH-1N (Huey) evaluator special missions aviator, was recently selected as one of only six Airmen to receive a STEP promotion in all of Global Strike Command for 2015. Liscomb has been in the Air Force nine years as of Nov. 5, 2015.

"I was speechless and didn't know how to react," Liscomb said, describing what it was like to be informed that he would be STEP promoted. "The only words I could really say to all the leadership that showed up was thank you. This really was an event I never thought would happen to me."

The guidelines for selection of STEP promotees are:

· Airmen must meet Air Force minimum time-in-service requirements. Specifically, airmen promoted to the grade of staff sergeant must have at least three years total active federal military service and technical sergeants must have five years at the time of the STEP promotion.
· Senior Airmen must complete Airman Leadership School. Despite the recent changes of the Enlisted Professional Military Education, staff sergeants who have not completed Distant Learning EMPE remain eligible for promotion to technical sergeant.
· STEP is a highly visible program and each promotion must be warranted by clearly exceptional circumstances. Isolated acts of heroism or specific achievements should not be the sole basis for STEP promotion.
· Selections should be based on recommendations from subordinate commanders who have personal knowledge of the individual.
· The commander or senior Air Force officer of other organizations that, by virtue of their small enlisted populations are not provided specific allocations, may nominate Airmen for promotion based on their assigned eligibles.

Commanders may waive time-in-grade requirements; however, no one may be promoted more than once during any 12 month period with the exception of senior airmen who may be promoted after six months TIG.

Liscomb works as an enlisted aviator and air advisor in the 54th HS running missions, such as search and rescue with his team and transporting members of the tactical response force to locations in the missile complex.

Master Sgt. Austin Atkinson, 54th HS superintendent, has worked with Liscomb for several years. During that time Liscomb has transitioned from flying at the squadron on Minot to flying in Afghanistan while deployed. When Liscomb returned back home, Atkinson assisted him as he re-qualified on the Huey and prepared for his second deployment to Afghanistan.

"His technical knowledge and airmanship is so crucial to the success of this squadron and the development of the rest of the enlisted aviators, that we got his deployment turned off," Atkinson said. "It can be simply put that Staff Sgt. Liscomb was performing like a technical sergeant on a daily basis. No matter whom he worked with or how bad the situation was, Tommie (a nickname used for Liscomb) continually perfected his craft as an enlisted aviator and always led with no hesitation."

Leaders are constantly gauging their troop's daily performance on and off duty to see if their people consistently perform at a higher level, Atkinson said. Leaders watch how their personnel perform when under pressure, being shot at or when a task is either immensely stressful or very difficult to accomplish. They also watch how their troops act around others and how their attitude affects their surroundings.

"Liscomb's attitude of bettering the people around him makes him a very hot commodity to the mission at Minot," Atkinson said. "To find someone who goes out of their way to make people around them better, while bettering themselves on the side is a pleasure to have in a squadron."

Liscomb explained that receiving the promotion was due in part to the people who work alongside him.

"I was lucky to be a part of teams that had a wealth of experience," Liscomb said. "One thing I learned is to take advantage of chances like this to grow in my ability to act as an aviator and NCO."

In order to receive the promotion, Liscomb's leadership created a package outlining his job performance and the reasons they felt he deserved to be promoted immediately.

Due to increased promotion opportunity in recent years, the STEP eligible pool is now much narrower and there is no established requirement to consider the number of times an Airman has tested for promotion or excessive time-in-grade and time-in-service requirements.

"Liscomb always performed at the level of a technical sergeant," Atkinson said. "His technical knowledge of the aircraft is tremendous and he would, on a continuous basis, volunteer for the jobs no one wanted. The pure fact that he wanted to leave his impression on everything he touched, and bring his peers along with him, really separated him above others."