Paul R. Smith NCO Medal

Paul R. Smith NCO Medal

The Paul R. Smith Noncommissioned Officer Medal was named in honor of Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during the War on Terrorism. The NCO medal was first approved at the SAME Board Meeting in June 2006 and the first award was presented at the SAME Joint Engineer Training Conference & Expo in May 2007. The medal’s name was changed to honor Sgt. 1st Class Smith in 2009.

Eligibility

Any Active, Reserve, National Guard or Retired Non-commissioned Officer who has been a member of The Society for at least one year prior to nomination.

Nomination Criteria
  • Outstanding leadership and accomplishments in support of the Society Mission and military engineering over the last calendar year.
  • Outstanding leadership and contributions to military engineering over the past three years.
Nomination Process

Nominations for this award must be made by a Society member and endorsed by a Post President or member of the National Board of Direction, using the Society nomination form. The Post President or member of the National Board of Direction endorsing the nomination will verify that the individual meets the eligibility criteria for the award, and that the nomination package provides information to support each of the nomination criteria and all required information on the nominee. The nominator is responsible for ensuring the package, with endorsement, is received at SAME HQ by the deadline.

Past Paul R. Smith NCO Medal Recipients

2022 – Master Sgt. Bradley Wilson, USAF, Air National Guard Readiness Center
2021 – Tech Sgt. Kristopher Martin, USAF, 668th Alterations & Installations Squadron
2020 – TSgt. Eric Tucker
2019 – Master Sgt. William Mello, USAF, 56th Civil Engineer Squadron, Luke AFB
2018 – Tech. Sgt. Edward Ossome, USAF, 18th Civil Engineer Squadron, Kadena AB
2017 – Staff Sgt. James Adams, USAF, 8th Civil Engineer Squadron, Kunsan AB
2016 – Master Sgt. Amanda Wakefield, USAF
2015 – Master Sgt. Adam Boubede, USAF
2014 – Senior Master Sgt. Rigoberto Chacon, USAF
2013 – [Not Awarded]
2012 – Senior Master Sgt. Frank Lakotich, USAF
2011 – Master Sgt. Kyle R. Mason, USAF
U.S. Air Forces-Europe
2010 – Master Sgt. Edward J. Quinn, USAF
Honorable Mention: Bernard Ben-Carew, ADCS, USN
2009 – Chief master Sgt. Ronald Kruse, P.E., USAF
U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command
2008 – Senior Master Sgt. Gerald A. Schenck Jr., USAF
U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency
2007 – Chief Master Sgt. Michael Drumming, USAF
U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command, Civil Engineering
2006 – Commad Sgt. Maj. William D. McDaniel Jr., USA
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Gulf Region Division