SEBASTIAN — Joseph Patrick McMullan, a Staff Sergeant USAF grandson of Bonnie Pendleton, a resident of Sebastian, and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach, has been nominated for the 2016 Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA) Award by the U.S. Jaycees in the area of Government Service.
This is an award received in prior years by former Presidents John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. He served as an air power expert and was deployed worldwide for five times in six years. In addition to being a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), McMullan earned a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) certification, and expertly controlled devastating, precision airstrikes from behind enemy lines – often under enemy fire and in close proximity to friendly forces.
He is also a trained first-responder and routinely coordinates combat medical evacuation and humanitarian resupply for soldiers and civilians throughout the spectrum of conflict – oftentimes stabilizing patients with combat-related injuries while under enemy fire.
McMullan has also led a civil affairs mission to supply blankets and winter clothing to more than 1,100 displaced Afghanis, all under close combat situations. He was awarded 16 medals during this time and was recognized as “Airman of the Year” for 2012 and 2013.
