LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The 944th Fighter Wing Warrior of the Month for October 2021 is Reserve Citizen Airman Tech. Sgt. Brandon Ritter, 944th Security Forces Squadron fire team leader and unit training manager.
The Warrior of the Month program is a way to recognize and spotlight the Airmen of the 944th FW for their positive impact and commitment to the mission.
Ritter was recognized for his work as UTM, diligently working with key 944th Mission Support Group and wing personnel to resolve any training issue. He successfully imported 71 security forces members into the Training Business Area system without any discrepancies. Ritter, with help from his team, volunteered multiple off-duty hours outside of an already jam-packed training schedule to assist Maricopa County by painting pavement. This helped to restore outdated striping and traffic markings decreasing the risk of vehicle and pedestrian accidents.
As a fire team leader, Ritter is a direct supervisor to four Defenders and is tasked with mentoring and aiding them to be combat ready. As the UTM, he is responsible for training records management and ensuring all members are upgraded accordingly. He also assists with security forces training and specializes in law enforcement tactics to meet the home station training requirements.
“My favorite aspect of this job is the ability to mentor and coach newly assigned Airman who recently join the squadron,” said Ritter. “I enjoy translating my civilian experiences with the security forces training. As we generate training scenarios, I enjoy watching the unit evolve and seeing the results of topics taught unfold.”
In his civilian capacity Ritter is a City of Surprise police officer currently assigned to the Maricopa County Law Enforcement Academy. He is a recruit training officer and is responsible for the training of 34 new recruits, across six different agencies, who want to become police officer’s. He is also part of the surprise SWAT team as an operator and sniper.
Ritter is from Wantage, New Jersey, and is married with his first child, a baby girl, on the way in January. He has two dogs, Zona (German shepherd/Doberman mix) and Capone (Doberman).
When he has free time, Ritter enjoys staying active by going to the gym, hiking, and fishing.
“I also partake in first person shooter video games along with massive multiplayer online role playing games,” said Ritter.