While working at Costco before enlisting in the Air Force, Senior Airman Jesse Hughes remembers that there were always days where the hours would just creep by before it was time to go home.

That's far from the case nowadays for the 25-year-old airman.

Hughes, who works in the 62nd Comptroller Squadron at McChord Field, now feels like there's never enough time to get to everything in a day.

"I wish I had a few more hours some days," he said.

Call it a sign of his dedication to the job. Hughes was recently named Air Mobility Command's Financial Management Airman of the Year.

"It's a pretty big honor," said Hughes, who grew up in Portland but graduated from Tenino High School, located about 20 miles south of Olympia.

Hughes previously spent some time working on the financial services side of the squadron when he first arrived at McChord in May 2009, but was moved to the section that deals with clearing outstanding travel orders and processing the paperwork.

"He just digs right in," said Jessica Smith, chief of the squadron's budget and accounting flight. "He was able to come in and get (the number of outstanding orders) down."

Adept in shuffling between the 15 different computer programs required to keep track of the many travel orders, Hughes was able to entrench himself in the work to greatly reduce the backlog.

"Because of the high turnover we have with active duty folks coming through the section, we don't always have the answers to certain questions up front," Smith said. "(Hughes) is very good at figuring things out."

Although he originally enlisted in the Air Force looking to get into the pararescue career field, Hughes has taken a liking to working in the finance sector. He previous earned similar quarterly honors for his performance, too.  

"I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to finance," Hughes said with a laugh. "I actually enjoy it ... it's an important job. Especially because your dealing with people's tax dollars."

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