NCO juggles work, family and community service everywhere he's stationed

Master Sgt. DeVonte Patterson has a big heart, a passion for mentoring junior airmen and members of the community, and a remarkable track record for getting things done.

Patterson now serves in Turkey as the contracting office's representative supervisor for Incirlik and Moron (Spain) air bases, where he directly supports 89 civilian personnel and five geographically separated units.

Before that, he served as a fleet management and analysis technician at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where he was responsible for 27 civilians and 113 airmen maintaining Air Combat Command’s largest vehicle fleet program. In 2016, he was repeatedly asked to serve in leadership positions above his pay grade, as section chiefs for heavy equipment maintenance and for fleet management and analysis, and as an interim first sergeant for three months.



Also in 2016, Patterson founded two important programs at Nellis: the Private Organization Mentorship Program and the Bunker Leadership Academy.  

The mentorship program filled a void for the installation's 7,000 enlisted personnel by providing monthly personal and professional development courses that ranged from financial discipline to servant leadership. It also paired junior airmen with chief master sergeants for quarterly one-on-one sessions. The Bunker Leadership Academy mentored 83 at-risk elementary age children with training geared toward respect, integrity, self-esteem and anti-bullying.

A year after becoming an ordained Clark County Detention Center chaplain in March 2014, Patterson began providing weekly spiritual resiliency training sessions for men and women in three correctional facilities, tackling issues of violence, alcohol and drug addiction, abuse and racism for approximately 1,000 inmates. He initiated efforts to provide books for prisoners and to provide toiletry items at holidays. He also recruited 22 mentors from Nellis who accounted for nearly 2,000 hours of mentorship.

Meanwhile, Patterson continued his education, earning a bachelor’s degree in Christian counseling.

He also spearheaded efforts to hold 11 events that supported local displaced families, victims of human trafficking, women and children's shelters, and military veterans. All of that was during his service as president of the Nellis 5/6 Association, a private organization dedicated to promoting leadership, mentorship and volunteerism among NCOs stationed at Nellis.

Patterson, the father of six children, somehow managed to balance his workload, community involvement and family life, and earned the 2016 NCO of the year award for the Air Force Warfare Center.This year, Patterson is an honorable mention in the 2017 Military Times Service Member of the Year competition.