22 Medical Group Airman earns spotlight performer Published Dec. 1, 2014 By Senior Airman Jarrod Vickers 22 Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- As a spotlight performer, individuals are chosen by leadership for demonstrating the Air Force's Core Values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do. First Lieutenant Aden Acklin, 22nd Medical Group practice manager, was selected as the spotlight performer for the week of Nov. 30 through Dec. 6. Acklin, a Tuscon, Arizona native, joined the Air Force in May 2012 and has been a member of Team McConnell since July 2012. As a group practice manager, he manages access and continuity in the Medical Group. When he's not on duty, he enjoys traveling, reading and laughing. "First Lt. Acklin is one of those people that you never forget. He is a stand-out leader and mentor, with qualities and characteristics that are a pleasure to be around. He is bright, quick-witted, smart and funny, people gravitate to him," said Chief Master Sgt. Yvonne Miller, 22nd Medical Group superintendent. "He is a stand-out performer who has what the Air Force needs." Who is the most positive influence in your life and why? By far and away my father is the most positive influence in my life. He has provided unconditional love and supported the myriad of pursuits and challenges in my life. Moreover, he has given me perspective on life and is an exceptionally positive and fascinating role model. If you could give advice to a new Airman, what would it be and why? Two pieces of advice seem to ring true. First, as Maj. Henderson has told me many times, it's not who you know or what you know, it's who knows you. In other words, let your work and your personality speak for themselves and the people that can help you in life will notice and want to help. Second, the best predictor of your academic success is your IQ; the best predictor of your career success is your emotional intelligence. What is one goal that you have already accomplished, or would like to accomplish, during your Air Force career? It would be nice to improve people's lives in some way, or at the very least to have a positive impact. Sometimes I lose sight of that, but it's a sound perspective to return to. I hope I have done that in some way, and perhaps I can continue to do that as my career continues. Where is the most interesting place you have traveled and why do you feel that way? Cambodia was the most interesting place I have traveled to, by far. At the time I traveled there, it was a perverse cross between Mad Max, Indiana Jones and those Christian Children's Help Fund commercials that are always on at 2 a.m.; or on any channel whose programming isn't much more creative than six straight hours of Bonanza. Tangential musings aside, it was a fascinating nation with a rich, ancient history, coupled with a shockingly brutal recent history that has left a staggering number of people physically and psychologically maimed. Yet above all, is an opportunistic population that is welcoming, warm, yet incredibly naïve and guided by a mix of regional superstitions and Buddhism. It was a strange, intoxicating place in many ways. If you had the opportunity to meet anyone in the world, who would it be and why? I would like to meet my future wife, of course. No one else is going to have a more positive impact on my life (let's hope), so it would be nice to stumble across her one of these days. I'm not getting any younger, after all.