Ava Resident Frank Balash is EADS' outstanding Noncommissioned Officer

The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) and the New York Air National Guard's 224th Air Defense Group (ADG) have named their annual award winners for the past year.

"The nation's air defense mission requires engaged and consistent excellence from all of our members," said Col. Joseph F. Roos, 224th ADG Commander. "The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic made this past year especially demanding and our winners distinguished themselves by going above and beyond our high standards. I congratulate them on their outstanding accomplishments and thank them for their efforts."

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year's in-person ceremony has been cancelled. A virtual ceremony is currently being scheduled for March 5.

Award recipients were:

Tech. Sgt. Frank Balash, Ava, Outstanding Noncommissioned Officer (NCO). An assistant NCOIC with the 224th Support Squadron (SPTS), Balash supervised more than 2,000 maintenance events ensuring critical air defense capabilities functioned as designed. Balash led the unit's participation in its first-ever interagency mission outage exercise and trained four Airmen in 225 different tasks. He also developed 13 exercises for the Communications Focal Point.

The 224th ADG is composed of the 224th ADS and 224th SPTS, located in Rome, and Detachment 1 and Detachment 2 that serve in the Washington, D.C. area. The 224th ADG provides the forces to conduct the Eastern Air Defense Sector's (EADS) mission. Part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Sector is responsible for the air defense of the eastern U.S.

For more information about the New York Air National Guard, visit www.dmna.ny.gov. For more information on the Eastern Air Defense Sector and the 224th Air Defense Group, visit www.eads.ang.af.mil.

To view these members click here: https://dmna-ny.meritpages.com/achievements/Ava-Resident-Frank-Balash-is-EADS-outstanding-Noncommissioned-Officer/131813