Air Force Tech. Sgt. Maria Avila, a staff member of Reserve Officers Training Corps Detachment 35 at California State University, Fresno, is among four ROTC staffers nationwide honored for performance, leadership, initiative and accomplishments.

The Air Force ROTC 3rd Quarter Non-Commissioned Award was presented to Avila and to counterparts in detachments at Cornell University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Puerto Rico.

She also was nominated for the Federal Women’s Program Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes her mentoring of more than 70 cadets from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and Avila’s off-campus community service work.

Avila was born in Madrid, Spain and came to the United State in 1996. She enlisted in the Air Force because, she said, she wanted to join a world-class military organization and pursue professional opportunities not easily available to women in Spain who wanted military careers.

She achieved her present rank in nine years of total service, while most people take 13 years to get the fifth stripe on their uniform.

For more information about Fresno State’s Air Force ROTC program, call 559.278.2593.