Southern High School Graduate Selected as Top Enlisted Leader of New York Air National Guard Airlift Wing

SCOTIA, NY (10/05/2016)(readMedia)-- New York Air National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Denny Richardson, a 1987 gradutae of Southern High School in Baltimore, has been selected as the 109th Airlift Wing command chief, representing the highest level of enlisted leadership for the wing. In this position, Richardson is responsible for matters influencing the health, morale and welfare, professional development, training, readiness and proper utilization of about 700 enlisted Airmen assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 109th AW at Stratton Air National Guard Base near Schenectady, N.Y.

Richardson, who has been with the Air National Guard for 27 years, joined the New York Air National Guard's 109th AW in 1997 as the noncommissioned officer in charge of Aircrew Life Support with the 139th Airlift Squadron. In September of 2014, Richardson moved to the Force Support Squadron as superintendent and then on to the Mission Support Group superintendent before assuming duties as the 109th AW command chief.

Richardson deployed to Germany in support of Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009. He's deployed numerous times to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, supporting Operation Deep Freeze, the military support component for the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program.

His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Air Force Achievement Medal, the Antarctica Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Richardson currently lives in Gansevoort, New York, with his wife, Michele, and sons, Darius and Marcus. He is the brother of Holly Stevens, who resides in Nofolk, Virginia, and Deanna and Belinda Richardson, who both reside in Baltimore.