EL SEGUNDO, Calif -- Military Personnel Flight Chief for Space Base Delta (SBD) 3 at Los Angeles Air Force Base (LAAFB), Moises “Mo” Rosales, attributes his strong work ethic to his parents, who emigrated from Mexico to the U.S. when Rosales was a young boy.
His parents worked long hours, including weekends, and a variety of jobs to provide for their family. “They always seemed to be working and whenever they could, they took us kids to work alongside them,” said Rosales. “My father would always tell us to work hard and it would pay off. That stuck with me,” he added.
It’s that same work ethic that recently earned him the distinction of being coined by Under Secretary of the Air Force, the Hon. Gina Ortiz Jones, and his selection as SBD 3 Civilian of the Third Quarter, Category V, by his supervisor, Maj. Liza Flint, deputy commander, 61st Force Support Squadron, LAAFB.
Rosales oversees the total force personnel support for LAAFB’s installation and geographically separated units (GSUs) for all assigned base personnel and local beneficiaries equating to more than 205,000 personnel. In his current position he manages five programs, which are Career Development, Force Management, Installation Personnel Readiness, Customer Support (ID Cards/Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System Updates or DEERS) and Passport operations.
“It means everything to be recognized,” said Rosales. “It lets me know that my leadership appreciates what I’m doing and recognizes my hard work. It was very special to me to be coined by the Under Secretary of the Air Force. Not many have that opportunity.”
He has received previous multiple squadron and group-level awards including squadron Team of the Year.
Rosales’ was nominated by Flint for, “not hesitating to step up to fill the vacant flight chief role and requiring little to no guidance to take initiative to provide critical updates and execution orders for Space Systems Command and beneficiaries in the Southern California region.”
According to the nomination, Rosales’ numerous achievements include, “stepping up as a Flight Chief from Section Chief of Career Development for the past three months leading 15 military and civilians for the most robust and critical military HR operation on LAAFB; managing 95 HHQ programs for 2,300 assigned members; and conducting 24 hours of weekly and monthly in-house military personnel training to 43 command support staff, unit program managers, and military personnel flight staff, thereby enhancing and equipping representatives with the most current HR programs and updates.”
He was also lauded for, among other accomplishments, modernizing the ID/Common Access Card/DEERS customer service queuing capability, saving $11,300 and increasing interactive customer evaluation (ICE) survey responses from 18 to 49 in under one month, resulting in the squadron’s leading satisfaction rate increase of 18 points, a 91 percent increase.
“He has assumed the duties and responsibilities of this new position with confidence and improved the flight’s output to the base and our customers,” said Flint.
Taking on extra duties without hesitation and more importantly, getting them done, is nothing new for Rosales. He served for 30 years in the USAF, retiring as a senior master sergeant.
In his off-duty time, Rosales is a volunteer softball coach for youth sports in his community. “I got into coaching by accident but ended up enjoying it so much I kept doing it,” he explained. “I coached every one of my daughter’s soccer, basketball, and softball teams. I ended up coaching my daughter from age nine to 18 and even though she’s grown, I still enjoy coaching softball.”
Being able to balance his work and personal commitments is a matter of good time management skills, he said, which allows him to hold practices on certain days or attend games. Rosales said he truly enjoys coaching softball. “I really believe there are so many life lessons one can learn from sports,” he said. “The way I see it, I’m not only showing youth how to play the sport of softball, I’m also teaching them life lessons such as being inclusive, encouraging one another, and teamwork, concepts that they can build on throughout their lives.”
During the past 14 years working as a civilian for Flight Support Services on LAAFB, he has served as the reserve program manager for the base Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMA) Program, managing more than 180 IMAs, and as career development chief.
“He continues to show up every day ready to work hard for his employees and lead with confidence,” said Flint. “He embodies dedication, initiative, an open-minded perspective, exceptional communication skills, a positive attitude, consistency, and an understanding of leadership’s direction and his team’s needs.”