Warrior of the Week: A1C Jason Kish

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Bonnie Grantham
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  Name: Airman 1st Class Jason Kish

Unit: 319th Civil Engineer Squadron

Duty title: Structural Apprentice

Time in service: 1 year 5 months

Time on station: 10 months

Hometown: Marysville, Ohio

Why is serving in the Air Force important to you?
Serving in the Air Force is important to me because a lot of my family have been in the service.  I just wanted to be able to say I did my part protecting this country.

What moment or accomplishment as a Warrior of the North are you most proud of and why?
A lock on a weapons vault malfunctioned so that if they locked it, we'd have to drill through the entire safe to open it. We had to drill through it once and it took about eight hours. I fixed the lock so that it was back in working condition and no longer requires to be drilled through.

What is your favorite part of your job?
I love being able to pick locks and break into safes when the lock breaks or when someone forgets the combination. The precision needed to drill into safes is so fine, so it's very gratifying getting that right every time on several different styles of safes.

How do you apply the wing commander's principles of 'passion, proficiency and professionalism'?
I think without passion my work ethic would suffer greatly.  I absolutely love my job I even go out of my way to learn lock picking skills on my own so that I can become more proficient on the job site.  My job takes me everywhere on base, so without having professionalism I wouldn't be able to have good customer service while assessing the problem and correct it. 

Who or what inspires you and why?
I would say my family inspires me because they are always so supportive, even when they're a thousand miles away.

What's the first thing that made you think Grand Forks Air Force Base was a cool place other than the temperature or weather?
I definitely love it here due to the amount of big projects and training we have on this base.  Since the shop here is small, there are more opportunities for me to train on the job.