Satellite Communications
Master Sergeant Charles F. Stanger distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Satellite Controller, 4th Space Operations Squadron, 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. During this time, Sergeant Stanger amassed more than twenty three hundred hours expertly commanding four Military Tactical and Strategic Relay (MILSTAR) and Advanced Extremely High Frequency command and control system monitoring links. His devotion and ceaseless efforts were instrumental in the squadron achieving an impressive 99 percent link uptime rate. Additionally, Sergeant Stanger demonstrated unparalleled leadership while supervising twelve space crew operations personnel in support of relocating three satellites over an unprecedented 130,000 miles. His expertise and dedication to duty contributed to the 17-week mission, optimizing four Combatant Command's military satellite communications capabilities. Furthermore, forty six personnel from four agencies resolved detected signal jamming during a critical satellite anomaly while under his guidance. Despite the difficult circumstances, his coordination skills restored and reestablished the protected communications capabilities of the United States armed forces and three international partners. Finally, Sergeant Stanger skillfully delivered and sustained an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance satellite link in support of Syrian Naval Forces and Europe strikes. This proved to be an indispensable factor in the destruction of three Assad Regime chemical weapons sites and contributed to his crew winning the 2018 Team of the Year award. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Stanger reflect credit upon himself, the 4th Space Operations Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Donald A. Catanella distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Satellite Controller, 4th Space Operations Squadron, 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. During this period, the extraordinary leadership and technical abilities of Sergeant Catanella directly contributed to the successful operations of the 42.1 billion dollar Military Tactical and Strategic Relay & Advanced Extremely High Frequency protected command and control operations center. As the squadron's subject matter expert, Sergeant Catanella developed a comprehensive task list for the Military Tactical and Strategic Relay 24-hour helpdesk, validating and implementing one hundred tasks. His efforts established the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for all future space mission force taskings. Furthermore, his leadership and tireless efforts were key to the timely installation and efficient operation of the 1.2 million dollar Advanced Calibration Facility and Interim Command and Control simulator terminal, enabling the wing to meet its strategic planning objective to provide a full spectrum training environment for all space crew operators. Finally, as part of the Air Force Space Command's expanding initiatives, Sergeant Catanella developed the first-ever operational procedures for the 4.6 billion dollar Family of Advanced Beyond Line-of-Sight Terminal, expertly creating and verifying 75 technical tasks to ensure the new command and control system's reliability. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Catanella reflect credit upon himself, the 4th Space Operations Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Jason M. Cook distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Radio Frequency Transmission Systems Supervisor, 56th Air Communications Squadron, 613th Air Operations Center, Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam. During this period, Sergeant Cook single handedly restored the Pacific Air Operation Center's ballistic missile defense satellite communications link, reestablishing missile defense command, control, communications, and intelligence. Additionally, he led a nine man team in direct support of an honorable carry mission, providing real-time situational awareness for the Joint Forces Air Component Commander, leading to the repatriation of 55 fallen warriors from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Furthermore, he was the lead technician in support of 24 Bomber Assurance missions, enabling 144 show of force flights. Finally, he drove contingency reach-back capabilities by erecting a tactical data link that linked the United States Navy with the 613th Air Operations Center via a 2.4 million dollar satellite communications terminal which was an Air Force first and was instrumental to the 56th Air Communications Squadron winning the Pacific Air Forces General Mark A. Welsh One Air Force Award. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Cook reflect credit upon himself, the 56th Air Communications Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Joshua L. Davis distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Radio Frequency Transmission Systems Technician, Operating Location-C, 374th Communications Squadron, Camp Zama, Japan. During this period, Airman Davis executed 354 preventative maintenance inspections, sustaining a 99.9 percent uptime rate for a 22 million dollar satellite communications facility supporting 78,000 Indo-Pacific Command users. Additionally, he resolved a critical Defense Information System Network outage by replacing and configuring a faulty media converter. His efforts revived the United States Army Japan land mobile radio command and control system for 10,000 United States Forces Japan customers. Furthermore, Airman Davis installed a 200 megabytes trunk during Exercise YAMA SAKURA 73. His technical expertise established 13 command and control links vital to the bilateral deployment of 7000 Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force and United States Army I-Corp personnel. Finally, Airman Davis overhauled the network capabilities of the 5.5 million dollar modernized enterprise terminal antenna system where he upgraded 13 network devices. His superior performance contributed to the squadron's 2018 Defense Information Systems Agency Facility of the Year. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Davis reflect credit upon himself, the 374th Communications Squadron, and the United States Air Force.
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth G. Dawson distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Commander, 148th Space Operations Squadron, 195th Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. During this period, Colonel Dawson became the first Milstar operator and the first Satellite command and control instructor in the California Air National Guard (ANG). He led the first ANG operations crew that ran live operations eight hours a day, five days a week. During that time, he oversaw the execution of over 125,000 satellite control sorties providing critical protected communications capability to thousands of users worldwide. Additionally, Colonel Dawson led the unit in receiving an Outstanding rating during its first ever no-notice Air Force Space Command Operational Readiness Inspection and an Excellent for the Unit Compliance Inspection. Further, as the leading space officer in the Air National Guard, Colonel Dawson was selected as the national level Space Chairman of the ANG Space/ Cyber Warfare/ Information Operations Weapons Systems Council. In this capacity he analyzed missions, estimated manpower, and presented options for additional ANG support to Air Force Space Command mission growth areas. The distinctive accomplishments of Colonel Dawson reflect credit upon himself, the 148th Space Operations Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Technical Sergeant Wayne J. Mooney distinguished himself by meritorious service while serving as Satellite Operator, 148th Space Operations Squadron, 162nd Combat Communications Group, North Highlands Air National Guard Station, California. During this period, Sergeant Mooney accomplised over 12,300 sorties on the Milstar satellite communication system. He supplied over 1,400 high priority Department of Defense users with guaranteed, reliable, survivable, and secure around the clock communications in support of Operations NOBLE EAGLE, ENDURING FREEDOM, and IRAQI FREEDOM. Sergeant Mooney's ability to quickly respond to a dynamic and demanding work environment not only contributed to an "Outstanding" Operational Readiness Inspection and "Excellent" Unit Compliance Inspection rating but also resulted in numerous "Highly Qualified" ratings during his Quality Assurance personal evaluations. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Mooney reflect credit upon himself, the 148th Space Operations Squadron and the United States Air Force.
Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Horner distinguished himself by meritorious service as Satellite Communications Supervisor, 422nd Communications Squadron, 422nd Air Base Group, 501st Combat Support Wing, Royal Air Force Croughton, United Kingdom. During this period, Sergeant Horner's technical expertise proved vital when he configured 20 tactical contingency missions that provided reachback communications support to nine deployed units spanning six countries. In addition, his quick response during an emergency tasking directly contributed to the configuration of 23 circuits enabling two classified OEF/OIF missions and enabling vital command and control communications to reach 10,000 joint warfighters. Moreover, Sergeant Horner's skillful leadership was pivotal while deployed in Mosul Air Base Iraq. He resolved over 1,400 work orders for 5,000 users stationed at over 80 allied units. Finally, Sergeant Horner was instrumental during the relocation of a 225,000 dollar tactical communications system, sustaining 155 embassies, spanning 14 time zones. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Horner reflect credit upon himself, the 422nd Communications Squadron and the United States Air Force.