Airman of year
Senior Airman Samantha Cooper, 635th Supply Chain Operations Wing, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., was presented with the Airman of the Year award.
Cooper, a technician with the Tankers and Special Mission Support flight, provides materials support to 47 locations worldwide. She partners with Tinker Air Force Base to coordinate the KC-135 boom release that boosted parts flow by 45 percent.
She also worked acquisition and requirements with teams from Global Strike command, and the Airborne Warning and Control System and Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System.
Cooper also earned her Community College of Air Force degree in business and logistics management with a 4.0 grade-point average. Active in the community, she has mentored in the Junior Achiever program, volunteers in the Airman Against Drunk Driving program, is president of the group "First Four" and secretary for Team Scott "First Four," devoting 571 hours to fundraisers for health organizations and kidney research.
She also received the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.
A 2010 graduate of Blue Mountain High School, she is a daughter of Colleen M. Cooper, Orwigsburg, and the late Ralph W. Cooper Jr.