A young man left his home and newlywed wife in the year of ’73 to fulfill his duty of serving his country in the United States Navy. Over 1300 miles away from his hometown of Belleville, Illinois, he began his duty stationed at Key West, Florida as an aviation electrician who fixed “anything and everything that contained a wire.” His specialty was working on the Air Data Computer System. After four years of serving, he separated in 1977 as a Petty Officer, Second Class to return to his forever home of Belleville. This was just the start of the wonderful accomplishments he would encounter along his prestigious career.
Ricky “Mr. G” Griebel is nothing short of a phenomenal, hard-working man, who Scott Air Force Base has been fortunate to have kept for 40 years. He was hired on to the Air Force team as a civilian carpenter, responsible for packing and crating. Of course, it didn’t take long for Griebel to shine and make his way into a supervisor role as the “Wood Worker Foreman,” which is the perfect title for him because of the extensive time and energy that he put into developing his skills in his career and in his off duty time. The carpentry skills he has are jaw dropping! Tremendous detail goes into each and every piece built, from a doll house for his granddaughter to a shadowbox truck as a gift. This is no surprise, though, as Griebel is truly impressive in every aspect.
Taking his new career in stride, Griebel quickly displayed that he would go above and beyond in the next 40 years. In 1998, as Scott began to expand, Rick began designing a new building for cargo. He started with simple PowerPoint drawings, and eventually worked with contractors and an architect to create a floor plan and scale diagram. All of the outlets, machine placements, doors, office layouts and even the dust extractor were built and placed based off of his plan. Then, in 1999, the brand new building won “The Most Functional Building” in AMC. By the end of October, Griebel and his team had moved into their brand new, highly operational design, and he would become the Cargo Operations Chief.
As the years went on, Griebel continued to prove himself. Innovatively, he realized how much money Air Mobility Command could be saving if they made their own boxes, and use the old cardboard as packing protection. He gathered the data and convinced AMC to buy a box maker in 2006 and shortly thereafter, got the box shredder. Annually this would save approximately $10,000! This is just one of the many great ideas benchmarked by Griebel, and he has the awards to show for it. He’s won several AMC awards including: The Surface Deployment and Distribution Command Award for Excellence in Traffic Management 2008, The AMC Transportation Civilian Technician of the Year 2009, AMC Logistics Readiness Civilian Technician of the Year 2014, not to mention 10-15 other various awards.
Griebel is a modest man. He doesn’t expect a single thing for going above and beyond. He is there for his Airmen with encouragement and mentorship. He has been the steady hand and the continuity with his daily “three sneezes, a cup of coffee and a little cup of cereal.” To say that Mr. Ricky Griebel will be missed is an understatement. His hard work and dedication made the Cargo Operations thrive here at Scott. Now, to enjoy some wood working and fishing trips!