JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Managing an air operation can be challenging and complicated. But that’s what Command and Control Battle Management Operations [C2BMO] Airmen excel at doing. These highly trained professionals take the chaos out of an evolving battlespace and transform it into an organized and clear picture.

And there are thousands of these professionals in the U.S. Air Force managing America’s air campaigns every day. So when you’re chosen as the Outstanding C2BMO Airman of the Year, it’s a big deal.

Senior Master Sgt. Michael Guzman, assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 201st Combat Operations Squadron, won the award as the 2019 Outstanding C2BMO Noncommissioned Officer of the Year.

“Just to be nominated and submitted by my command is an honor,” Guzman said. “To be honest with you, I was surprised about the award cause you kinda just put your head down and get to work not thinking about anything else but making a contribution to the organization by doing the best job you can.”

“Guz,” as he is fondly called at his unit, took top honors in a crowded field of nominees across the nation.

“Every year, Guz has an amazing year, but last year was especially remarkable and what others saw in Guz, what we always see in Guz is amazing,” said Col. Adam Marshal 201st COS commander. “In a peer group of thousands, maybe tens of thousands, he was No. 1. That’s no small feat.”

Airmen such as Guzman provide radar control and monitor airspace, keeping a watchful eye on everything that goes on in the sky.

“Guz is a fantastic NCO, and now, Senior NCO, and he’s a cornerstone of the unit,” Marshall said. “The cornerstone has to be placed on firm ground since everything else is based on it. Same with Guz, nearly every important thing we do – there he is, working diligently and quietly behind the scenes to ensure things get done.”

These sentinel Airmen are typically assigned to an air operations center or air control squadron. It’s in these cauldrons that these ‘chaos managers’ develop expertise for handling the battlespace. Guzman says being able to adapt and continuously learn are musts in this field.

“You can put us where you need us and we’ll take the skills that we learned and blend it with anything new,” said Guzman. “In that respect, we can be jack-of-all-trades types in the areas that we are assigned to in an AOC or ACS.”

Guzman enlisted in the Air Force in 2005 and served as an active-duty Airman until transferring to the Hawaii Air National Guard in 2016.

What’s next for Guz?

“I just come to work and do the best I can every day, every minute, that’s what’s always next.” Guzman said.