Warrior of the North named 2013 USAF Expeditionary Center Honor Guard Member of the Year

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Luis Loza Gutierrez
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  One Warrior of the North was recently named as the best ceremonial guardsman for the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center.

Senior Airman Jeffrey M. Lowder, 319th Comptroller Squadron, was selected as the 2013 U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Honor Guard Member of the Year. The news of his selection was both surprising and confusing at first for the 28-year-old Airman from Candem, S.C., a small town between Columbia, S.C. and Charlotte, N.C.

"I was confused at first because the person who congratulated me was Airman 1st Class Joshua Weaver, who had competed against me for the Base Honor Guard Member of the Year Award," said Lowder, a three-year Air Force veteran. "When he congratulated me I thought that he was talking about the base award, which we had already talked about. He saw the confusion on my face and realized that he was the first person to tell me the good news. After he told me what it was that I had won I felt both humbled and honored."

Weaver wasn't the only fellow ceremonial guardsmen to react in a positive way about Lowder's good news.

"I couldn't be more thrilled! I can't think of anyone that deserves this more than Senior Airman Lowder," said Staff Sgt. Alexandra Crawley, who won the same Expeditionary Center award for 2012.

The fellow Warrior of the North and ceremonial guardsman said she first worked with him on Honor Guard-related matters toward the end of 2012 when Lowder performed a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action ceremony for the Grand Forks AFB Airmen's Activity Council.

Lowder's performance at that event left a good impression on Crawley, who eventually became both a teammate and supervisor at the base honor guard.

"He took the lead with confidence and displayed professionalism to the highest extent at the ceremony," said Crawley. "Later in 2013 when he became a full-time honor guard member he continued his professionalism and take-charge attitude and performed every detail and ceremony with perfection."

Lowder's period as a full-time base honor guard member was filled with several highlights, including his selection as the person to lead more than 500 training hours for 22 guardsmen, as well as his participation in more than 75 military funerals in the Air Force's second largest area of responsibility for a base honor guard (147,000 square miles).

Crawley said it was not just excellent performances in details and ceremonies that merited Lowder his recent recognition, but his actions behind the scenes.

Lowder helped fight hunger by supporting the local Blessings in a Backpack program, a non-profit organization headed by the Grand Forks AFB Honor Guard whose goal is to deliver healthy food to children at the end of each school week so they won't go hungry over the weekends. Lowder helped prepare and deliver more than 2,000 meals for elementary school children.

He also used his financial skills as an Air Force budget analyst to ensure more than 150 orders and travel vouchers were accurately and promptly submitted through the Defense Travel System.

In addition to practicing good stewardship with his financial expertise Lowder also found time to further his education.

The 2008 Clemson University graduate, earned his associates degree in financial management from the Community College of the Air Force and he maintained a 3.8 grade-point-average while completing 12 credits hours in pursuit of a master's degree in international business from Trident University.

Although Lowder said he very much appreciates the opportunity that the base honor guard allowed him to help the community and further his education; however, it's rendering military honors in his ceremonial dress blues that he will most remember.

Some of the most memorable details that Lowder participated involved three separate dignified transfers of remains of fallen active-duty Airmen arriving at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, where the pallbearers moved the flag-draped coffin of the service member, from the airplane into the hearse.

"Being near the loved ones of an Airman coming home for the last time while being present on a completely silent and still flightline is a surreal and humbling experience," said Lowder.

Another memorable time for Lowder took place during a retiree's funeral on a frigid day at the Minneapolis National Cemetery.

"It was the first time that I really felt connected not only to all of the Airmen of the past and present, but to all of those that have served our country," said Lowder.

As taps played in the cold sleet and rain Lowder said he looked to the flag and then to the loved ones of the deceased Airman. There among the family was at least one member from every branch of service.

"Among the array of different military uniforms were multiple generations who represented multiple conflicts and wars that our nation had fought in," said Lowder. "At that moment in time I felt as if we were all the same; the same service, of the same generation and of the same family; saluting the flag of our country that we defend."

Lowder is currently competing for the same award at the Air Mobility Command-level and desires one day to be a member of the Air Force Honor Guard. It's a desire his wife Debra clearly understands may be both rewarding and challenging."

"I admit having my husband be part of the Honor Guard wasn't always easy," said Mrs. Lowder. "I would miss him when he'd go away for days and we couldn't make concrete plans because we never knew when he would need to be back on road, but I know how much being a part of Base Honor Guard meant to him because it's something he talked about doing since we first arrived at Grand Forks in 2011."

Mrs. Lowder said she would not mind moving to the Washington D.C. area someday if her husband joined the Air Force Honor Guard because she knows it would make him happy.

"He supports me in everything I do, so I think it's important that I support him as well, especially since a big part of what he does involves paying respect to all those fallen service members and their families," said Mrs. Lowder. "I've noticed how passionate and dedicated he has been about serving his country as an Honor Guard member, and I'm glad that the Air Force has continued to notice as well."