2012 NAACP Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award goes to Tyndall member

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Reel
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Barbara Copeland, 325th Force Support Squadron school liaison officer, has been named Air Force winner of the 2012 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award.

The Roy Wilkins Renown Service Award was instituted in 1975 in recognition of the notable Roy Wilkins, who established the NAACP Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Department in 1969.

"Barbara is a true professional and her efforts at advancing a better understanding between minority and non-minority members at Tyndall deserve recognition at the national level," said Randall Jones, 325th Force Support Squadron deputy. "FSS is proud of her and I am especially pleased because I know how hard Barbara works at both her job and in the community. She so richly deserves this recognition."

Ms. Copeland distinguished herself by promoting the tenets of civil and human rights, equal opportunity and public through her many works at Tyndall and the local community.

She personally worked with the Rescue Mission Homeless shelter where she fed more than 200 individuals and provided household items for homeless veterans, the disenfranchised, unemployed and many families.

She also played an influential role in the success of Tyndall Black Heritage committee events. She supervised Tyndall's 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration including 12 different organizations and more than 100 attendees.

The 325th Fighter Wing's mission also benefited from Ms. Copeland's involvement as the unit's training manager. She developed justification for the fiscal year 2011 and 2012 training requirements for 20 career fields with zero discrepancies and secured more than $125,000 in funding for 30 individual trainings of military and civilian personnel in six different career fields.

"I am grateful and humbled by this award," said Ms. Copeland. "I think diversity was key, along with working with all people no matter who we are or where we have come from. No good thing is ever accomplished alone. I have exceptional leadership in my day-to-day functions who allowed me to do my Air Force job in a manner that set all of us up for success. Additionally, the Tyndall Black Heritage Club (2011 & 12) played an instrumental role in all the events that I worked in or with."