Team Seymour civilian Airman earns recognition for volunteer-work

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Aubrey White
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  One member of Team Seymour has served the base community since 1992, and was recently recognized for his efforts.

Allan Pedersen, United Service Organizations (USO) of North Carolina director at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, was recently named the 2013 Continental United States Region Volunteer of the Year. Each year the USO names four regional volunteers of the year as a way to formally recognize their dedication, hard work and service.

Pedersen's relationship with the community began in 1992 when he worked for a glass company in town. The 4th Fighter Wing headquarters remodel was his first project and, with the exception of the support center and operations buildings, he said he's built, maintained or repaired the glass in just about every structure on base.

Not only did he work, Pedersen said he has always been an avid volunteer involved with veterans in the area, which led him to his current position with the USO.

Pedersen said he had previously been involved in Raleigh, N.C. supporting the Honor Flight program which grants WWII veterans a visit to the memorial in Washington.

"I was lucky to serve as a guardian on the first flight, then came back and found veterans in the Wayne County area to get them on flights," he said. "The next thing I knew, the president of the USO came to town to see (the wing commander) at the time and gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. That's when I went from being a volunteer to the base liaison."

In September alone, Pedersen said he and his assistant exerted more than 400 hours of work supporting roughly 9,200 people during 44 base functions. Although he works on a strictly volunteer basis, he said his paycheck is the fulfillment he receives from knowing the nation's Service members and their families are taken care of.

He remembered a time when an NCO assigned to the 4th Security Forces Squadron called him late one evening, informing him of a small team of defenders who were deploying at 3 a.m. the next morning. Pederson and his assistant immediately gathered snacks and toiletries for the Airmen to take with them, and tissues for the families who said goodbye.

"We wanted to be there to make sure they had water and snacks. They don't have (fast food restaurants) in the sky, that I know about, and it's an 18-hour trip for the most of them," he jokingly said. "Another thing we had donated to us are little pocket flags. We try to get that to them right before they leave so they have a little piece of home to take with them."

Pedersen's enthusiasm for serving military members is rooted from an unforgettable experience with his brother-in-law.

"(My passion for serving) goes back to the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam on Nov. 8, 1965; they were ambushed and 48 of their troops were killed," Pedersen said. "One of (the survivors) was my brother-in-law. We knew he was at (Walter Reed Army Medical Center), but we weren't told we needed to come there because (his injuries weren't) life-threatening. He came to live with us for about three months after he got out of Walter Reed."

During those three months, Pederson said he learned a lot about the hardships veterans face with injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder after war, and realized the importance of having a stable family-life to come home to.

Although the closest he's come to serving in the military was an unsuccessful attempt at the depth perception test needed to enlist in the Air Force, Pedersen believes he's been able to serve the nation through what he does as a volunteer.

"I just believe in supporting the troops, whether it's them directly, or their spouses and children when they're gone," he said. "(I do) whatever needs to be done to make sure they're taken care of so myself, my children and my grandchildren can enjoy the freedoms we have."

For more information about USO services or to volunteer email apedersen@uso-nc.org.