NFM Lending is pleased to honor Colonel Kevin Sellers, USAF, Retired, as the NFM Salute for August 2020.
COL Sellers served in the Air Force from 1995 to 2020. His distinguished military career began after he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. The early years of his profession had him stationed at Elgin and Tinker Air Force Base, where he made lifelong connections with his fellow Airmen. He was stationed to Karshi-Khanabad Air Force Base in Uzbekistan in 2003 to assist with Operation ENDURING FREEDOM as an Executive Officer.
From 2011 to 2012, COL Sellers acted as DCMA-Iraq Deputy Group Commander and assisted with the peaceful transition of power to Iraqi locals. He played an integral role in safely withdrawing troops and contractors from Iraq during Operation NEW DAWN. He achieved the rank of Colonel in 2016.
His most recent position was Chief, C-5M Super Galaxy Division, Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base, GA. In this role, COL Sellers provided integrated logistical support for the 52 C-5M aircraft and oversaw 220 personnel. As the manager of the Division’s $3.1B annual budget, he helped formulate strategies for the modernization and modification of the C-5 aircraft.
Ever since he was at the Air Force Academy, COL Sellers sought to challenge himself. His professional achievements have shown he stayed true to his personal goal, and it also extended into the classroom. Even with a full-time career in the military, COL Sellers continued to advance his education and earned his MBA in 2000 and Juris Doctor in 2005 from Oklahoma City University.
By Alena Kairys
Aug 3, 2020
LINTHICUM, MD, August 3, 2020— NFM Lending is pleased to honor Colonel Kevin Sellers, USAF, Retired, as the NFM Salute for August 2020.
COL Sellers served in the Air Force from 1995 to 2020. His distinguished military career began after he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. The early years of his profession had him stationed at Elgin and Tinker Air Force Base, where he made lifelong connections with his fellow Airmen. He was stationed to Karshi-Khanabad Air Force Base in Uzbekistan in 2003 to assist with Operation ENDURING FREEDOM as an Executive Officer.
From 2011 to 2012, COL Sellers acted as DCMA-Iraq Deputy Group Commander and assisted with the peaceful transition of power to Iraqi locals. He played an integral role in safely withdrawing troops and contractors from Iraq during Operation NEW DAWN. He achieved the rank of Colonel in 2016.
His most recent position was Chief, C-5M Super Galaxy Division, Mobility and Training Aircraft Directorate, at Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base, GA. In this role, COL Sellers provided integrated logistical support for the 52 C-5M aircraft and oversaw 220 personnel. As the manager of the Division’s $3.1B annual budget, he helped formulate strategies for the modernization and modification of the C-5 aircraft.
Ever since he was at the Air Force Academy, COL Sellers sought to challenge himself. His professional achievements have shown he stayed true to his personal goal, and it also extended into the classroom. Even with a full-time career in the military, COL Sellers continued to advance his education and earned his MBA in 2000 and Juris Doctor in 2005 from Oklahoma City University.
COL Sellers retired from the Air Force in May 2020 after 25 years of service. As someone who has committed himself to the military, COL Sellers has advice for anyone interested in pursuing the same career.
“I would tell them to enjoy their service and continue to seek opportunities,” he says. “There are so many opportunities for personal and professional improvement. There are opportunities to do great in your career field, and then at certain points in your career, to branch out and do different things. So it’s important to really understand the mechanics of those opportunities and the processes for taking advantage of all that the military has to offer.”
During his career, COL Sellers has been awarded 10 awards and distinctions, including the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Iraq Campaign Medal with service star, and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal.
COL Sellers resides in Grapevine, TX with his wife, Angela. He is the proud father of Tyler, Brookelyn, Kylee, and Adilyn, and grandfather of Lilith. Tyler is following in his father’s military footsteps by serving as an Army Staff Sergeant, currently on his second deployment. Now that he is retired, COL Sellers looks forward to reconnecting with friends and family and getting to enjoy “lake life”.
NFM Lending is proud to donate $2,500 to Gary Sinise Foundation on behalf of COL Sellers. NFM looks forward to the opportunity to continue to honor military and Veterans through the NFM Salute initiative.
Full Transcript of Video Interview is Below:
– Welcome into our NFM Salute for the month of August, 2020. I am your host, Greg Sher, so delighted and excited to bring to you fresh off his retirement ceremony, we’re bringing in Colonel Kevin L. Sellers who served 25 years in the military. We thank you for your service, Kevin, and really appreciate you being on NFM TV.
– Hello Greg, thanks for having me really appreciate you and the NFM team supporting the military through the NFM Salute.
– We appreciate you saying that. You’re a Bronze Star Medal recipient, also once you retired you received the Legion of Merit Medal. Can you show those to us?
– Yes Greg. While they were pinned on my chest, it really is a testament to the teamwork and the great actions that go on within the military. So here’s my rack of medals. The first one right here is the Legion of Merit, very honored to get this medal represents 25 years of service, and the fact that I was able to achieve a senior rank such as colonel, just really honored that my chain of command thought that I needed that for retirement. This one right here is the Bronze Star, served in Iraq for 12 months in 2011 and 2012 as a Mission Support Officer, supporting those that were going out in harm’s way. And we provided all the base services and I led a team of several hundred folks in Iraq that made sure that our bases have what they need to support all the folks that were at those bases.
– Thank you for sharing those. 2011, 2012, you mentioned you were deployed to Iraq for Operation New Dawn, You also were deployed for Operation Enduring Freedom in Uzbekistan in 2003. What did those experiences teach you about leadership? Well, I took the approach of being a servant leader in that I really wanted to make sure that my people were taken care of, my teammates had all the things that they needed to be successful. And then we ran into problems, I became the chief problem solver. So what are we gonna do to knock down that barrier, eliminate that constraint, do whatever we can to make their jobs easier and make the processes more efficient, but then also just be a mentor and a counselor and someone that they can come and talk to and confide in.
– What kind of advice would you give a young man or woman considering going into the military, having served for 25 years and seen so many people go in and out?
– Continue to seek opportunities. There are so many opportunities for personal and professional improvement. There’s just many many education opportunities there’s opportunities to do great in your career field, and then at certain points in your career there’s opportunities to branch out and do different things.
– Well it’s a perfect springboard into what you’re doing now, because you made the decision to retire after 25 years. You had a glorious ceremony, as glorious as they can be during these pandemic times, we’re watching right now as you were honored, after 25 years of service. What are you doing in your civilian life? What’s on the table for you now and why did you decide to walk away after 25 years?
– Well, so you kinda get in your mind that you’re gonna know when it’s time to step aside and the military, it’s a 24/7, 365 kind of job you just kinda know and really excited about civilian life and what’s ahead of me. I have several opportunities that people approached me that I’m gonna take advantage of and hopefully I can provide value to them.
– Your son Tyler who serves himself, tell us about what he’s up to and where he’s serving.
– Our oldest child Tyler went into the army several months after high school. He graduated from Basic Military Training with honors, went on to be an Airborne Infantryman for many, many years, had several deployments, just a fantastic, fantastic soldier.
– We’re gonna also give a quick shout out to your three daughters, Brookelyn, Kylee, and Adilyn. And then, I wanna hear about the story of how you ended up marrying Angela your wife. I understand that you attended high school together, and reunited. We went back to our 10 Year Reunion and there was a large group of folks that were getting together and doing something separate before the actual larger reunion. And so we met and of course I started talking to her and after the Uzbekistan deployment in 2004, I worked to get an assignment back to Oklahoma where she was, and then that kinda solidified our relationship. And then our daughters are just amazing. They of course have traveled around the various assignments with us switching schools, meeting new friends. The military life isn’t that easy for the families, including the moving and the deploying, and they just handled it like champs. So, always thankful and grateful for my family.
– Colonel Sellers, thank you very much for your time on NFM TV.
– Greg thank you very much to you and your team and to David and Sandy Silverman. Really appreciate everything that NFM Lending is doing through these Salutes to support Veterans and also how you help people get houses through your great mortgage se rvice. So thank you very much, really appreciate it. It was an honor. – It was our honor believe me = all ours. Thank you so much. That is retired Colonel Kevin L. Sellers. He’s our August NFM Salute. Hope you’ve enjoyed it, I’m Greg Sher from NFM TV. We’ll see you again next time.
