Pride of the Pack: Staff Sgt. Luke Lucas

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alice Moore
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Staff Sgt. Luke Lucas from the 8th Civil Engineer Squadron was selected as the 8th Fighter Wing's Pride of the Pack for the week of July 2. Each week the 8th Fighter Wing commander recognizes one member of the Wolf Pack by awarding them with a Pride of the Pack certificate for their stellar commitment to excellence and superior mission accomplisment. Here are some of Sergeant Brown's highlights: 

Rank and full name: Staff Sgt. Luke Lucas 
Spouse: Crystal Lynn Lucas
Unit: 8th Civil Engineer Squadron
Duty Title: Structural Craftsman
What is your job in a nutshell?: I fix locks.
Hometown: Kingsford, Mich.
Previous Base: Shaw AFB, S.C.
Follow-on: Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ
Hobbies: Bodybuilding, Woodworking, Hunting, Fishing and NASCAR
Favorite music: Country and Rock n roll
Last good movie: Pumping Iron "Arnold Schwarzenegger"
Favorite Quote: "We are all something, but none of us are everything" Blaise Pascal
Best thing you've done here: Streamlined the Lock Shop

Letter from his commander: 
I recommend Staff Sgt. Luke Lucas, 8th Civil Engineer Squadron, for the "Pride of the Pack" Award. Sergeant Lucas is extremely self-motivated and versatile. He is the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge for the base's only Lock Shop. Along with the daily grind of repairing door locks and safes, he assists, without hesitation, the structures shop in minor and major construction repairs. 
 
Sergeant Lucas manipulated the locking mechanism on a top secret safe for the 8th Fighter Wing's Intelligence flight. Without his knowledge, the flight would not have been able to retrieve essential documents for war fighting capabilities. Sergeant Lucas also installed 11 doors, lock handles and hardware at the new Radar Approach Control Center. He completed the work in just one day and saved the Air Force more than $15,000 in contractor cost. After duty hours, Sergeant Lucas responded to 30 dormitory lock-outs, ensuring Wolf Pack members had access to their rooms within minutes of each call. Other organizations continuously praise his work. 

As a Structural journeyman, Sergeant Lucas completed 300 urgent and routine direct schedule job orders, slashing the shops overwhelming backlog of 400 job orders by an amazing 75 percent. The shop, with his leadership, worked 10 hour days leading up to the Operational Readiness Inspection to accomplish this amazing task. Sergeant Lucas absolutely contributes to the structure shops one team atmosphere. He is the shop's training manager and has instructed seven personnel on re-keying pins, cipher locking mechanism and digital lock assemblies, ensuring continuity and saving the squadron training dollars, while decreasing stand-by response times. 

Sergeant Lucas unselfishly assisted in the installation of polypropylene on the roof of a newly renovated facility for the EOD flight. This action prevented water damage and saved Air Force assets valued at over $400,000. This Airman is consistently the first on the job and the last to leave. 

Sergeant Lucas obtains personal gratification from volunteering to help both the civilian and base community. He contributed 12 off-duty hours assisting in the cleaning of the Kae Chong Orphanage and worked the wing's Airmen Assisting Airmen for 16 hours, ensuring our Airman present the best image at all times. When the squadron Superintendent decided to develop a rising five organization, Sergeant Lucas was one of the first to jump on board. His actions are matchless and epitomize our core values for others to follow. Even with his busy schedule, Sergeant Lucas completed a CCAF degree in Structural Technologies and was recognized at the May 2007 graduation. 

I proudly nominate Sergeant Lucas for the "Pride of the Pack" Award for all his contributions to the wing and the local community. This outstanding Airman will be reenlisting for another four years in September and he is one we want to keep.