Zenon, Louisiana Airman of the Year
By Staff Sgt. Garrett Dipuma, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office
NEW ORLEANS – February is Black History Month, an annual time to celebrate achievements made by African Americans and recognize the roles they have played in the U.S. throughout history. The Louisiana National Guard is taking time to recognize the culture, history, and contributions of its African American service members through weekly social media highlights.
This week, the LANG is focusing on Senior Airman Angel Zenon, assigned to the 159th Force Support Squadron, 159th Fighter Wing. She was recognized as the 159th’s Airman of the Year.
Zenon grew up all over the world as the child of an active-duty Soldier and cited her father as her inspiration to join.
“Just being on base, going to PT with him and getting his dog tags and seeing the whole environment … the military is its own subsection of the world,” said Zenon. “I kind of just fell in love with it. I didn’t really join for benefits or anything like that. I just love the military.”
To date, Zenon said that she is most proud of being recognized as Airman of the Quarter and Airman of the Year and that it validated all of the hard work she has put in to her military career.
“This past fiscal year, I was a part of the Enlisted Field Advisory Council,” she said. “Basically, they took groups of us and split us up by ranks and gave us problems that the Air Force is trying to solve and didn’t really know how to solve. They needed help with new ideas and stuff like that.”
In addition to her work with the EFAC, Zenon said that she took a lot of time to clear a backlog of paperwork at the 159th.
Outside of the military, Zenon is the secretary of a non-profit organization called A Stepping Stone that her mother created. The organization takes in young single parents and teaches them fundamental life skills needed to take care of children including financial planning, cooking and cleaning.
“All in all, I’m most proud of just growing and progressing in my career field and as a person in general,” said Zenon.