Lone Reservist Stands Out Winning Airman of the Year

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jose Lucero IV, 301st Security Forces Squadron flight sergeant at Fort Bliss, Texas, won one of 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year (OAY) awards for 2024.

“Winning this award means a lot to me, both professionally and personally,” Lucero said. “It’s a validation of my work from the outside and a confirmation of my own belief in what I can achieve. I’ve earned the trust of my colleagues and proven that they can rely on me to get any job done.”

Lucero’s journey started in El Paso, Texas, where he was born and enlisted in the Air Force in November 2009. He now serves as a master instructor and non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of the Air Force Reserves Combatives Program. During his 14 years of service, he has operated in 40 countries directly supporting Operation Inherent Resolve and Horn of Africa, as well as airlift missions such as theater support contingencies, humanitarian and detainee-movement missions.

Reflecting on his career path, Lucero shared how his journey led him to discover his passion for security forces.

“I completed medical clinical rotations and an engineering internship at the University of Texas at El Paso; however, I still gravitated toward a career in law enforcement,” Lucero explained. “Surprisingly, it wasn’t until I was exposed to the expeditionary side of security forces that I found my passion. My motivation is to guide students to find that same passion, but better yet, in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in arms.”

Lucero excelled in the Air Force Academy’s 155-hour combatives course with a 95% grade point average, which led to him becoming the first reservist to be one of 88 master instructors in the Department of Defense.

In his current position as an Active Guard Reservist (AGR), Lucero led a team of instructors for 2,500 security forces members tasked to deploy. Lucero teaches tactics such as mounted and dismounted operations, shoot-move-communicate, close-quarter combat, tactical vehicle courses and airbase recapture and recovery skills.

In October 2023, Lucero set a new precedent in the Defender Challenge, a legacy competition between major commands (MAJCOM). He engineered a 3-day Active Shooter Combatives Event where he tested 11 hand-selected competitors across MAJCOMs. The event aimed to establish a readiness baseline for the security forces enterprise, setting a benchmark to assess future performance and identify areas of improvement.

Lucero’s excellence goes beyond his uniform. At a local gym, he volunteered to instruct 16 martial art classes and 10 self-defense courses. In addition to providing civilians with self-defense skills, his guidance helped six youths to place in the top three at a martial arts tournament.

Lucero emphasized the collective responsibility of shaping the next generation of Airmen.

“It’s not about you and it’s not about the person to your left or right. It’s about the next generation of Airmen,” he said.“It’s about looking forward, paving the way, and building the correct infrastructure that will breed the right type of Airmen needed for tomorrow’s fight.”

Lucero is the only Airman from the Air Force Reserve Command to be recognized for this award. As a winner of this award, he is authorized to wear the OAY ribbon with a bronze service star device as well as the OAY badge for one year from the date of formal presentation.