Radio Operator Awards
Staff Sergeant Katherine L. Nash distinguished herself by meritorious service while serving as Radio Operator, 1st Helicopter Squadron, 316th Wing, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. During this period, the professional skill, leadership, and ceaseless efforts of Sergeant Nash contributed to the effectiveness and success of government airlift missions for senior civilians in the National Capital Region. As Radio Operator, she facilitated command and control for classified national and Department of Defense operational plans and contingency taskings during 81 immediate response exercises. Additionally, she simultaneously overhauled her unit's outdated call sign listings with a new and accurate format and engineered an aircrew pager test database that improved real-world response time by 12 percent and sustained her unit's impressive on-time, no-fail mission rate of 99 percent. Furthermore, her technical prowess throughout more than 800 exercise mission sorties spanning 2600 alert hours, yielded invaluable technical confidence during four National Special Security Events, including the 2009 Presidential Inauguration and President Obama's first address to the United States Congress. Finally, her dedication to the mission, community, and fellow Airmen was recognized by her selection as a 2010 Verne Orr Award winner. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Nash reflect credit upon herself, the 1st Helicopter Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Senior Airman Hector L. Diaz distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Hammer Adaptive Communications Element (ACE) Operator, 51st Combat Communications Squadron, 5th Combat Communications Group, 689th Combat Communications Wing, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. During this period, Airman Diaz deployed to Detachment One, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, Isa Air Base, Bahrain. During this important assignment, he established five radio frequency networks over two links, enabling Command and Control of 2,500 All Terrain Vehicles supporting Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Additionally, Airman Diaz prepared four increments composed of 3.3 million dollars in communication assets in only 10 hours, enabling Federal Emergency Management Agency and Joint Task Force hurricane Gustav and Ike relief efforts. Finally, due to his experience, he was handpicked for the Air Force's 10-man Hammer ACE team where he managed a multi-agency radio network providing critical multi-site Command and Control communications to the Department of Energy's nuclear dismantling team. The distinctive accomplishments of Airman Diaz reflect credit upon himself, the 51st Combat Communications Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Jonathan A. Fleming distinguished himself by outstanding achievement while serving as NCOIC and Radio Telephone Operator, Joint Defense Operations Center (JDOC), 532d Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron (ESFS), 332d Air Expeditionary Wing, Joint Base Balad Iraq, from 1 June 2011 to 30 November 2011. During this period, Sergeant Fleming served as part of the largest Security Forces Group deployed to defend an air base in combat since the Vietnam conflict. Sergeant Fleming supervised Radio Telephone Operators that were responsible for more than three hundred random anti-terrorism measures that secured 2.1 kilometers at Joint Base Balad. In addition, he was responsible for delivering the daily operational briefings to the base commander and articulating the daily missions that tracked terrorist activity, dispatched quick reaction forces, and kept critical lines of communications open for patrols during outside the wire missions. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Fleming reflect credit upon himself, the 532d Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Joseph M Armand distinguished himself by outstanding achievement while serving as Communications Journeyman and Squadron Antiterroism Officer, 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (EAES), 451st Expeditionary Operations Group (EOG), Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan. During this period, the outstanding professional skill, knowledge, and ceaseless efforts of Sergeant Armand resulted in major contributions to the effectiveness and success of the mission. He excelled as a radio operator and programmed and maintained 20 Flight Ops radios which were instrumental in the successful launch and recovery of 23 missions and 106 patients evacuated. In addition, Sergeant Armand served as the Communications Security Responsible Officer (CRO) and oversaw the COMSEC program, safeguarded SECRET materials, and managed daily and monthly turnovers, ensuring reliable and secure communications. Further, he managed all Automated Data Processing (ADP) equipment, computers, and cell phones and sustained 100 percent accountability and operational response for the Squadron. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Armand reflect credit upon himself, the 451st Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and the United States Air Force.