MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- At 10 years old, he learned that curiosity can have consequences.
He leaned over a table covered in computer parts, studying wires and components as he took the machine apart piece by piece. His older brother watched nearby, waiting for something to go wrong.
It did. One of the wires zapped him.
"Technology was just something I naturally kept coming back to because I liked taking things apart, figuring out how they worked, and seeing if I could make them work better," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Andrew Schaeffer, 35th Fighter Wing (FW) director of innovation.
The electrical shock did not stop him.
Schaeffer kept experimenting with technology, learning coding languages through online forums, repairing a gaming console and successfully developing a robotic biped by age 15. That curiosity eventually led him to earn a degree in computer science before joining the Air Force.
Today, he applies that same drive to solving problems across Misawa Air Base.
Tech. Sgt. David Ahn, Air Force Research Laboratory Project Arc program engineer, has worked closely with Schaeffer during a temporary duty assignment to Misawa.
“Schaeffer’s projects remove frictions and barriers preventing Airmen from being able to do their job faster, more efficiently, and with higher quality-of-life,” Ahn said. “The projects he’s led or supported have ranged from turning 2-hour processes down to 5 minutes, giving back time to work centers and delivering capabilities that have opened offices to new ways of doing business."
For the 35th FW, those improvements give Airmen more time to focus on generating ready forces and meeting Pacific Air Force PACAF (PACAF) requirements.
That same approach reflects PACAFs' push to challenge the status quo and operationalize resourcefulness, using new ideas and technologies to strengthen the readiness, resilience and effectiveness of the force.
Schaeffer also invests in the Airmen developing those solutions. As Misawa's Project Arc coach, he mentors innovators, removes obstacles from their projects and helps build technical skills ranging from additive manufacturing to software development.
“What impresses me most about Schaeffer’s leadership is that despite how fast and far he goes on his own merits, he’s always looking back to bring the rest of the team up there with him,” Ahn said.
That combination of innovation, leadership and mission impact earned Schaeffer one of the Air Force's highest enlisted honors. In 2026, the Air Force selected him as one of 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year, representing PACAF. The annual program recognizes enlisted Airmen for superior leadership, exemplary job performance, community involvement and personal achievement.
Ahn was not surprised.
“Schaeffer exemplifies excellence and professionalism in both conventional Air Force standards and as a pathfinder for innovation across the Department of War,” Ahn said.
The recognition still feels surreal to Schaeffer.
“I will always feel like there are other people who deserve it more than me,” he said. “And to be completely honest, that makes me excited.”
For Schaeffer, the award is not a finish line. As he prepares for his next assignment at the Department of the Air Force Artificial Intelligence Studio at Stanford University, he will continue pursuing solutions to real-world problems, supporting the Air Force's broader push to modernize, strengthen readiness and deliver practical capabilities at speed.
“The jobs evolve, just like warfare evolves, and just like the world around us evolves,” Schaeffer said. "In terms of what technical curiosity and unconventional thinking mean to the Department of the Air Force, I believe it is a required evolution."
For the boy who once took apart a computer just to understand what was inside, the question remains the same.
What can make it better?