MCGHEE TYSON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Tenn. -- The Air National Guard's training and education center in East Tennessee is marketing its identity and strategy with a new challenge coin as it shifts mission, values, and image.
This month, the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center began using the coins as means of recognizing its contributors and performers. It is in addition to the commander's coin awarded in those merits.
"The Commander wanted to have a new coin that embodied TEC's new mission and focus," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Timothy Kinnan, assigned to TEC's production division. He designed the coin.
TEC pushed its transformation last year "to be the most agile, innovative, and resilient total force training and education provider."
Last fall, outgoing TEC Commander U.S. Air Force Col. Kenneth Lozano said that the organization successfully leveraged inclusive feedback and a new strategic plan that develops exceptional leaders and secures a future in cyber and space.
"The words inside the coin are our values: Respect, Trust, and Engagement," said Sergeant Kinnan. "The group of people represents the 'development of exceptional leaders' priority. The cyber environment represents the way we increase readiness thru cyber training."
"I've always enjoyed creating artwork like this, and it gives me a sense of pride knowing that my little contribution will be a lasting part of the TEC legacy," said Sergeant Kinnan.
The work is the third coin design in recent years. Previous coins included two commander's coins and the organization's 50th-anniversary commemorative coin in 2018.