Wright State student earns Airman of the Year award

Brontee Jeffries, senior sociology major, was named the Airman of the Year by the 179th Air Wing in the Air Force Ohio National Guard. (Photo by Will Jones)

Brontee Jeffries, senior sociology major and French minor, was named the Airman of the Year by the 179th Air Wing in the Air Force Ohio National Guard.

The award qualifies her to compete against other airmen who were nominated from other units for the state Airman of the Year award.

“I knew I was nominated from my unit in the operations group, but when I went to the awards banquet … I didn’t know I was going to win the base award,” she said. “I was so surprised. My dad kept saying ‘you’re going to win,’ but I know he’s biased.”

About 10 nominees in her airman tier were entered to in the competition. “And they announced ‘the winner is,’ and my name and picture went up,” Jeffries said.

In addition to winning the award, she received three certificates signed by members of the U.S. Senate, Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives.

Jeffries, who has served in the Air National Guard for three years, currently works as an aviation resource manager in the179th Airlift Wing operations group. She deployed for nearly three months this past spring.

Jeffries wanted to attend college but also was zealous to serve her country.

“I want to serve my country because I believe that if you want to see a change in the world or even on the local level, you have to want to do something about it and not just let things happen,” she said. “So I wanted to serve so I can see on a military side of things how I can be of service to others.”

Last summer, Jeffries traveled to France to put her minor in French to further use. She hopes to continue traveling during her time in the military.

She plans to pursue a Master of Business Administration with the goal of working in health administration in a hospital setting.

Jeffries volunteers and interns at the National Alliance of Mental Health’s Clark, Greene and Madison Counties chapter, serves as president of Wright State’s Black Women Striving Forward and is a resident assistant at Wright State’s College Park Community housing. She was crowned Miss Black Wright State by the Black Student Union in 2014.

She also works as a peer adviser in the Veteran and Military Center. She enjoys meeting active-duty members and veterans and hearing their stories.