MSgt. Stephen Love, 460th SW/EO

Published Aug. 27, 2008

Warrior of the Week -- Master Sgt. Stephen Love, the 460th Space Wing Equal Opportunity superintendent, is Team Buckley's Warrior of the Week for Aug. 29 - Sept. 4.

Sergeant Love has spent 22 years, six months, 21 days and counting in the Air Force and is from Atlanta, Ga., which, he pointed out, is known in rap culture as "ATL" or "Hot-lanta."

He loves to read inspirational books and autobiographies. He also enjoys writing inspirational notes and journals.

How do your day-to-day duties impact the Air Force mission?
My duties, as an equal opportunity advisor, are to assist leaders at all levels in promoting environments free from personal, social or institutional barriers that prevent all members from rising to their highest level of responsibility in the Air Force.

If you could change one thing about the Air Force what would it be?
I would definitely change the "cookie-cutter" policy of the "one-size-fits-all" mentality and approach of the Air Force Personnel Center in addressing individual personnel issues. I certainly understand the efficiency of strictly applying policy to thousands of issues and concerns, however, this mentality trumps the uniqueness of individual opportunities.

Why do you serve?
I serve because of service before self.

What has been your most memorable experience in the Air Force?
There have been several, but I would probably place my wife's July 3 retirement ceremony after 22 years and 11 months of stellar execution of her duties at the head of those moments. Primarily due to the fact that her father officiated the ceremony and her supervisor and unit leadership offered comments that truly disclosed deep admiration for her as a person. Furthermore, her retirement ceremony provided me a tremendous opportunity to publicly celebrate her impact in my life for the past 20 years while she honorably served.

What is your most memorable personal accomplishment?
Once again there are several, but I elect to recognize the awesome opportunity afforded to me by retired Brig. Gen. Gregory Pavlovich in January 2004 to address the entire 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base on the topic of Diversity. General Pavlovich hosted a "Mentorship Day" every January as the wing commander. He invited me to be one of the keynote presenters based on favorable recommendations from Company Grade Officers appointed to coordinate the presenters. Additionally, he reviewed and praised a diversity lesson plan I developed. He allotted me 45 minutes for my two presentations along with a second presenter, while he, along with three other presenters were only allotted 30 minutes. I was the only enlisted presenter during the event. It was estimated that approximately 3,000 wing members attended the sessions or viewed it on the Commander's Access channel. The feedback was outstanding.

If you were not in the military, where would you be? Why?
I would spend five days a week in my Cocoa Beach Junior/Senior High School classroom teaching either History or Life Management. At the end of the school day, I would quickly change into my coaching attire to run my girls' basketball team practices every evening. I would continue to coach my players during the off-season and the summers. Additionally, I would conduct "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teen" seminars throughout the local community as a means of developing young people to be responsible contributors to society and to realize their potential. I will do this because I believe it is my God-given assignment in life to teach and coach, and because I firmly believe I can create explosive environments of learning for young people.

Where would you like to be in 10 years? What would you be doing?
I will be a high school athletic director or an assistant principal. I will probably still reside in West Melbourne, Fla., because my wife loves our home there.

Military accomplishments:
I have received two "commander-written" achievement medals in my career because of my performance during an Inspector General Nuclear Surety Inspection and an Operational Readiness Inspection. These medals mean more to me than any others I've earned throughout my career simply because both were the result of these commanders personally identifying my efforts and taking the time to write the citations. On both occasions, the commanders identified my performance despite me not receiving any recognition from the inspection teams. What I believe to be just doing my job, they identified as exemplary and vital to the wing's success.