WIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force recently announced its newest staff sergeant selects and 90 senior airmen attached to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base were on the list. To celebrate, 88th Air Base Wing leadership hosted a promotion ceremony at the Wright-Patt Club.

Air Force officials selected 12,827 senior airmen for promotion to staff sergeant out of 56,124 eligible for a selection rate of 22 percent. The average overall score for those selected was 378.56. Selectees’ average time in grade was 2.56 years and time in service was 5.06 years.

Friends, family and leadership gathered with the selectees to recognize and congratulate the new staff sergeants.

“It means everything. Because I worked so hard for this day,” said Senior Airman Martha George, 88th Force Support Squadron. “It’s a milestone for me. It’s an achievement worth celebrating!”

Chief Master Sgt. Tessa Fontaine, 88 ABW command chief, emphasized the meaning of this accomplishment and congratulated the selectees.

“You are now joining the United States Air Force NCO Corps, which is one of the most sought-after NCO Corps because of our professionalism and our ability to just really be the foundation for the United States Air Force,” Fontaine said.

Later, Fontaine reflected on her own promotion to staff sergeant.

“It was a little nerve wracking, to prepare myself for a responsibility and expectations that I didn’t quite yet understand,” she said. “I had to grow into it, but I had mentors to help me do that.”

At the end of the ceremonial portion of the event, Col. Dustin Richards, 88 ABW and installation commander, congratulated all the promoting Airmen but told them the work was not done.

“(NCO) is a lofty responsibility. Take it seriously and realize that there’s still a lot of growth left to do,” Richards said. “So good luck. Congratulations. Take this time to celebrate. Have an amazing weekend and come back ready to be an NCO.”

Here are the staff sergeant selects for WPAFB:

88th Air Base Wing: Jeffrey Allen; John Arroyo; Leah Baker; Alexandr Breedlove; Jeiden Chandler; Almanza Chavez; Hunter Comeau; Ponce De Jesus; Aaliyah Decena; Jalin Dew; Ma Domingo; Paige Eaglestone; Benjamin Elmore; Oscar Flores; Tinoco Gaitan; Karly Gapski; Cristian Garcia; Nosilla Garner; Martha George; Elijah Gilbert; Annastasi Griffith; Miranda Hachey; Najee Harden; Maggie Heaps; Gaudely Henry; Ashley Hogan; Louis Jackson; Preem Junio; Devin Krause; Mark Lane; Morgan Lettich; Shawn Lewis; Farrah Lockwood; Neil London; Julia Marrin; Shaniah Mitchell; Robert Moore; Demario Morgan; Christine Neang; Kaitlyn Nokes; Taquierra Pittman; George Plisinski; Ethan Ravak; Lago Riaka; Yovanni Robles; Alyssa Rogers; Kristen Ruckel; Anthony Rugama; Cody Santana; Jazmine Smith; Johnathan Stanley; Ryan Stein; and Maxwell Stewart.

771st Enterprise Sourcing Squadron: Justin Brown and Malik Vasciannie.

Air Force Institute of Technology: Donavan James.

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center: Cheyenne Gillis; Brandon Bolen; Ata Mokari; and Micaela Howard.

Air Force Materiel Command: Sean Buchanan and Sean Irvine .

National Air and Space Intelligence Center: Brett Barley; Amber Boatman; Matthew Cope; Michael Depuydt; Stefa Franceschini; Michael Frewin; Jeremiah Guinn; Patrick Hartley; Jeremy Haslage; Jared Johnson; Oscar Kee; Kayla Lyons; Vincent Mattox; Weston Randolph; Chance Roye; Brady Schwark; Euihyun Shin; Jessi Smith; Terry Tran; Myia Williams; and Pachee Xiong.

U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine: Alexander Baker Kaleb Bottrell; Cameron Harris; Jade Minor; and Daniel Vo.