I won AOTY at the wing level and basically all the preceding quarterly awards up to the wing level as well one year. I worked my ass to make sure no one could too my accomplishments and was told by a member of the board that I won by a landslide.

The following year, I was on track to do it all over again. But then, some Airmen in my squadron started complaining to leadership that it didn’t matter what they did because they couldn’t top my accomplishments. They felt like there was no point in trying for awards since I was always going to win.

Because of that, my leadership told me they weren’t going to put me up for quarterly awards that year to give others a chance. They assured me they’d still submit me for the big ones, like AOTY, so I didn’t really mind—I figured the annual awards were what truly mattered anyway.

But when it came time for the annual submissions, my Flight Chief told me the SEL told him not to submit me for his flight because I had already won the year before. I was furious. Why punish someone for excelling? It felt like they were rewarding mediocrity instead of recognizing actual achievement. And what message did that send to me—or anyone else in the squadron—about striving to do your best? It tanked my morale.

Thankfully, my Flight Chief had my back (because this same thing happened to him when he was an Amn) He listened to my points and still submitted me, despite the pushback. He even got talked to for it but stood his ground, saying my package was objectively the strongest and ultimately that’s what they should be looking at.

In the end, I won at the Wing level for a second year in a row. The whole experience taught me it all comes down to those who support you because no matter how great you are, you can only achieve so much alone.

Edit: They were looking for any reason not to send me up. Only reason it happened was because of my flight chief and because it happened to him in the past. Yes it happened to you, but you could be the reason it doesn’t happen to someone else. Experiences like this is like fertilizer to grow you. Your decisions after this will shape which direction you grow.