Andersen Air Force Base, Guam-- U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ismael Tabual, an NCO in charge of financial operations assigned to the 36th Comptroller Squadron, was recognized as the 36th Wing’s Team Andersen Linebacker of the Week, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 4, 2023.

The Team Andersen Linebacker of the Week recognizes outstanding enlisted, officer, civilian and total force personnel who have had an impact on achieving Team Andersen’s mission, vision and priorities.

As an NCO in charge of financial operations, Tabual manages financial pay action for military and civilian personnel across Team Andersen. He leads a 10-person team and more than 100 Defense Travel System and Government Travel Card program administrators for the execution of all official travel and permanent change of stations. Tabual is the unit’s quality assurance manager. He monitors, updates and briefs the 36 CPTS commander on the financial health of the 36th Wing by analysis of station gains, travel voucher timeliness, military pay debts and account balancing. He also leads the continuous process improvement effort to identify and implement proven best practices.

Since arriving at Andersen AFB in Feb. 2021, Tabual has been relentless in making Team Andersen the best in the Pacific Air Force at taking care of our Airmen and ensuring our wing has all the resources it needs to accomplish the mission. He stepped up as flight chief of financial analysis for three months and led a team of 40 resource advisors and financial analysts to ensure the wing was ready for fiscal year closeout. During his tenure as the quality assurance manager, the unit has seen improvements to include in-processing time cut in half, elimination of accounting voucher errors and automation of the pay debt process to ensure our Airmen receive information they need to manage their pay challenges.

Additionally, he stepped up as the unit deployment manager.

“I’m originally from the Philippines and I’m the first one in my family to go to the Air Force,” said Tabual. “It’s been great and there has been a lot of experience and challenges but I have good support.”

Tabual has accepted every challenge and shined at every task. His efforts in improving our processes directly contribute to accurately and efficiently paying our Airmen, which allows Team Andersen to focus on delivering combat power and strengthening partnerships. Tabual exemplifies the linebacker spirit by always giving maximum effort to take care of our Airmen and to ensure Team Andersen is focused on the mission at hand.

“It’s important to be adaptive and be able to juggle different things,” said Tabual. “In a time of pressure, it is okay to feel the pressure but you still have to show your subordinates that you don’t have to feel defeated. You just have to be positive at all times and have a positive attitude.”

The term Linebacker is rooted deep within Team Andersen’s history. Operation Linebacker II took place on Dec. 18, 1972, and was the largest number of heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II. During the operation, B-52s from Andersen flew round-the-clock bombing missions over North Vietnam to destroy major targets in Hanoi and Haiphong in an effort to bring the Democratic Republic of Vietnam back to negotiations.

The recipient will have the opportunity to sign a “Linebacker” football jersey that will be displayed in the Wing Headquarters building.

Way to go, Tabual!

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• Andersen Linebacker of the Week: Tech. Sgt. Zarah Padilla
• Andersen Linebacker of the Week: Staff Sgt. Jose Lara