Local leader awarded Presidential Rank Award

  • Published
  • By Lois Walsh
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Mrs. Judy Stokley, Deputy Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons and Executive Director, Air Armament Center, joined an elite group of meritorious senior executives as Air Force officials recognized the career achievements of 20 senior civilians April 14 during the annual Presidential Rank Awards Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Our distinguished winners are products of a lifetime of dedication to their trade (and) the Air Force," said Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne, who officiated with Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Duncan J. McNabb. "They contribute each in their own way."

Mrs. Stokley said that this award is important because it reflects the high performing organization that is Team Eglin.

"Selection for an individual or team award validates that the vision, hard work, innovation, dedication and persistence of our Team Eglin is recognized outside our community," she said.

The awards feature two categories: distinguished and meritorious. Nominations are evaluated by boards of private citizens and approved by the president.

Mrs. Stokley began her career in March 1979 as a weapons research analyst in what is now the Munitions Directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory. She worked almost six years in the laboratory, and then spent several years on the staff of what is now the Air Armament Center in technology transition planning, weapon concept development, technical oversight and operations analyses. She then worked in program offices on air superiority and classified systems before moving to Washington, D.C. as the Program Executive Officer for Weapons. From there she returned to the Air Armament Center in her present job.

"I love every minute that I get to spend collaborating with brilliant, dedicated people from government and industry. I love building strategies and problem solving. I love getting feedback from our warfighters, all Services and international, on the products and services we deliver to them," Mrs. Stokley said. "I cherish the work that I get to do with the National Defense Industrial Association -- we've provided scholarships to local deserving students in defense-related fields and to our local middle and high school math and science programs."

Mrs. Stokley said that people, programs, technologies, warfighter needs, types of combat, regulations and policies are always changing. That keeps her interest and challenges her every day plus knowing the warfighters need the products and services delivered by the center.

"There is no repetition, there is nothing remotely rote about our work," Mrs. Stokley said. " I've always felt that this work is right for me because I have a low threshold for sameness and boredom and I've encountered neither in the Air Force."

Senior Master Sgt. Matt Proietti  contributed to this article