Coin check: Active duty and Reserve commanders team up to design, present joint performance award Published June 27, 2011 By Airman First Class Meredith Thomas 916th Public Affairs Office SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- It's a treasured Air Force tradition. The giving and receiving of coins as a tangible "job well done." In fact, the custom is so important that it is one of the first acts performed upon completion of basic military training when a trainee officially earns the title of "Airman" and receives a gold and blue Airman's coin from his or her military training instructor. If that Airman is a dedicated go-getter, he will likely receive similar awards as his military career progresses. Such is the case for six top performers in the maintenance field here who were presented with coins during a ceremony on June 17. It may sound like an everyday occurrence, but the coins, just like the maintenance professionals who received them, are anything but commonplace - both in appearance and back story. The freshly-minted "Knucklebuster" coin represents both the 916th Maintenance Group and the 911th Air Refueling Squadron. It features a three-dimensional wrench protruding from the sides of the coin and is encircled, on both the front and back, with "all the specialties in the maintenance arena," said Lt. Col. Bruce "Phil" Heseltine, Jr., commander of the 911th ARS. Lt. Col. Heseltine teamed up with Col. Charles M. Combs, commander of the 916th MXG to oversee the creation of the coin. "When we started designing the coin, we knew it would be something that people would like and it would be something people would recognize as a symbol of the 916th and the 911th working together," Lt. Col. Heseltine said. "I think we nailed it!" However, it was a long road to the finished product. Lt. Col Heseltine said the planning process for the coin began back in September 2010 and he praises Capt. Michael W. Eudy, a maintenance officer with the 911th who is now retired, and Staff Sgt. Chris D. Davidson, a hydraulics specialist with the 911th, for being instrumental in the design and production of the coin. Col. Combs agrees. "I can't take credit for the design of the coin," he said. "It happens that we were having discussions about a 'performance coin' and all the pain and effort associated with the design and funding for a new original coin. We discovered, at the same time, the 911th folks were already in the proof stages of a joint coin of their own. We asked to piggy back on their coin and funded half the project." Lt. Col. Heseltine sees the entire process as a microcosm of the larger mission that both units accomplish here on a daily basis. "We couldn't have done it without the total buy-in from Col. Combs," he said. "He's a huge advocate of total force integration, as am I. To be honest, the coin is really emblematic of the relationship we have here." That's why awarding the first six coins was such a meaningful occurrence. Col. Combs and Lt. Col Heseltine jointly presented "Knucklebuster" coins to: · Staff Sgt. Patrick Cozine of the 911th · Staff Sgt. John Lane of the 911th · Master Sgt. John Mote of the 916th · Tech. Sgt. Robert Foor of the 916th, for outstanding performance during the Operation Readiness Inspection · Staff Sgt. Clifford Whittenton of the 911th for outstanding performance during the ORI · Senior Airman Andrew Krull of the 911th for outstanding performance during the ORI "It's an award. It's not something people are just going to throw in a pile somewhere," said Lt. Col. Heseltine. "The coin is something special."