Sr.A BTZ

On Monday, Ryan went in front of a board for Senior Airman Below The Zone (BTZ). He had previously told me that he was really just ready for it to be done with. I think he had been feeling the pressure and the stress and it was just starting to weigh on him. On Sunday night I spent my evening ironing his service dress, while he read through his package and scrolled through the Professional Development Guide (PDG) again.

Ryan has worked so hard in and out of the office. He's volunteered countless hours and many weekends. He is dedicated to his job and he is a really good Airman (in my opinion). A lot of people worked really hard ensuring he had a strong package going in and I know he appreciated their time. He spent countless hours last week practicing in front of a mock board with his shop and getting advice from others so he would feel more prepared.

At lunch on Monday, Ryan was getting all his service dress that was freshly ironed and hanging ready. I asked him if he was nervous and if he felt ready. He told me that he was nervous, but he was as ready as he was going to be. He said he has done all he could up to this point and he was going to give it his best shot. I don't know why, but I am always so nervous before any of his tests, boards, etc. and this one was no different. His board was at 1:00 and I was constantly checking my phone waiting to hear how he did. He finally text me and told me that he thought it went pretty good, but he stumbled over his words one time. From that point on...we just waited.

Today, he found out that he got BTZ! If you don't know what BTZ is, it's basically an early promotion. In the Air Force you go from an A1C to a Sr.A after a period of time without testing. BUT if you get BTZ, you basically get another stripe a little bit sooner. (Basically that's the gist of it...and if I'm wrong, please correct me) For Ryan getting BTZ means so much, he will be able to test for Staff Sgt. in March which is a year earlier than if he had made Sr.A on schedule. He went up against 7 other Airmen and only 2 of them (including Ryan) got another stripe.

I'm just proud of him and I can't wait to see all of his accomplishments and what's in store for his career in the USAF!