Master Sgt. Evan Fenn is an F-16 Crew Chief with the 140th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo. Usually, he's aware of everything going on around him, but in July, something caught him by surprise: Fenn was named the 2010 Air National Guard Thomas N. Barnes winner.

"I didn't know anything about it until I got a call from the Guard Bureau. To be honest, I had no idea the award was for best crew chief of the year," said Fenn.

Fenn's supervisors quietly submitted his name for the award after he distinguished himself during an Operational Readiness Inspection. To prepare for the inspection, he led the maintenance squadron's Tiger Team to identify and correct deficiencies in every single one of the 140th Wing's more than twenty F-16s. When Air Combat Command inspectors showed up, they found zero deficiencies and there wasn’t a single write-up. They noted that the 140th Wing had the best block-30 F-16s they’d seen to date. (Blocks describe year and build variations.)

Two Thomas N. Barnes Awards are presented each year; one to an active duty crew chief and another to a National Guard crew chief. It doesn't bother Fenn to share his title with someone else. He's proud of the fact that the Air National Guard operates on less than seven percent of the Air Force's budget, yet comprises about one-third of the Air Force's capability.

"That really speaks well of us," he said with pride.

Fenn started his military career in 1983 when he enlisted in the Air Force as an aircraft maintenance scheduler. When he got out in 1987, he worked for a few years as a civilian aircraft maintainer. He joined the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1990 and earned his airframe and power plant certificate. He had plans to work for an airline, but on his first day at A and P School, the Gulf War started. The airlines immediately implemented hiring freezes and layoffs but the National Guard was hiring, so he changed his focus back to military jets.

Fenn later moved from the Oklahoma ANG to the Arizona ANG, then ultimately came to the Colorado ANG in 2005.

"This group at Buckley is the best crew I've ever worked with. They've got great attitudes. They're technically proficient and are motivated with can-do attitudes. That hasn't always been the case at other places I've worked," said Fenn, who has been an ANG technician for 18 years.

"The Guard is a family environment. The stability of staying at a home station of your own choosing is a benefit of being in the Guard," said Fenn.

Plus, he still enjoys his job.

Fenn is a little uncomfortable with the label of Crew Chief of the Year. "Yeah, I've gotten some kidding over it," he said. Of course, that's exactly what you'd expect from a crew that works well together.

No one in the 140th Maintenance Squadron is going to admit that Fenn is the best – at not while he's near – but privately, they agree that no one deserves the award more than he does.

"His ability to get the job done and lead others to pursue excellence in their job is one of the reasons the COANG continues to be among the very best," said Col. Tom Shetter, 140th Maintenance Group commander. "We are incredibly proud of him."