CMSgt Nicole M. Shininger is the Senior Enlisted Leader for the USAF Band of Mid-America, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. She leads a unit of sixty-one personnel and five flights including operations, publicity, resources, readiness and administrative support. Additionally, the unit maintain ten performance teams that execute more than four hundred missions each year in support of Department of Defense and the Air Force’s strategic communication initiatives, Presidential support, civic outreach, international partnership building, recruiting, and troop support across a ten-state region and at deployed locations around the world.
CMSgt Shininger enlisted in the United States Air Force in April 1996 after graduating with a master’s degree in woodwind pedagogy. She has been serving on active duty for twenty-eight years. She has held a variety of positions throughout her career to include Additional Duty First Sergeant, Resource Advisor and Section Chief of Publicity. Her previous assignments include Offutt AFB, Nebraska, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, Ramstein Air Base, Germany and Scott AFB, Illinois. She was also the Superintendent of the Air Forces Central Command Band driving Combined Force Air Component Command partnership building mission in coordination with twelve embassies and ten bases across fifteen countries in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE and the Resolute Support Mission. Prior to her current position, CMSgt Shininger served as the Superintendent for the Band of Mid-America at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
EDUCATION
1993 Bachelor of Music Education, State University of New York, Potsdam, the Crane School of Music
1996 Master of Music, Woodwind Specialist, Michigan State University, East Lansing
1999 Airman Leadership School, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
1999 Airman Leadership School
2007 Noncommissioned Officer’s Academy, Tyndall AFB, Florida
2007 Associates of Music, Community College of the Air Force
2010 Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, Course 14, Non-Residence
2011 Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education
2011 Professional Manager’s Certification
2011 General LeMay Air Power Course
2012 Professional Manager's Certification, Community College of the Air Force
2018 Senior Enlisted Joint Professional Military Education II
2021 Chief Leadership Course, Maxwell, AFB, Alabama
ASSIGNMENTS
April 1996 - May 1996, Trainee, Basic Military Training, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
May 1996 - November 2010, Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of Publicity, USAF Heartland of America Band, Offutt AFB, Nebraska
November 2010 - July 2013, NCOIC of Supply, USAF Band of Flight, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
July 2013 - November 2016, Additional Duty First Sergeant, USAF Band of Mid-America, Scott AFB, Illinois
November 2016 - November 2018, Superintendent USAFE Band, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
November 2018 - July 2020, Superintendent, USAF Band of Mid-America, Scott AFB, Illinois
July 2020 - Present, Senior Enlisted Leader, USAF Band of Mid-America, Scott AFB, Illinois
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters
Air and Space Commendation Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters
Air and Space Organizational Excellence Award with 5 oak leaf clusters
Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 9 oak leaf clusters
National Defense Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War of Terrorism Service Medal
Air and Space Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border
Air and Space Longevity Award with 6 oak leaf clusters
USAF NCO PME Graduate Ribbon with 2 oak leaf clusters
Air and Space Training Ribbon
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Airman First Class April 3, 1996
Senior Airman April 3, 1998
Staff Sergeant Aug. 1, 2000
Technical Sergeant April 1, 2005
Master Sergeant June 1, 2009
Senior Master Sergeant April 1, 2017
Chief Master Sergeant July 1, 2020
(Current as of June 2024)