Command Sgt. Maj. Alston visits U.S. Cyber Command, recognizes troops

U.S. Cyber Command Public Affairs
1/9/2013

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. – U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Patrick Alston, senior enlisted leader for U.S. Strategic Command, visited U.S. Cyber Command Dec. 14 for command familiarization and to recognize several enlisted personnel for outstanding performance.

Alston spent part of the morning of his visit speaking with enlisted leaders from USCYBERCOM and Army Cyber Command, but spent the majority of the trip visiting with members of the command and learning about their missions.

As part of the visit, Alston recognized 10 enlisted personnel who had been nominated by their respective services for exceptional work to promote the mission of the operation and defense of DoD networks, and presented them with a letter of appreciation and the USSTRATCOM senior enlisted leader’s coin.

“Now, the services didn’t nominate you just for their work in the past,” he said of those he coined. “They nominated you because of your potential for the future.”

Alston also encouraged the service members to not see the recognition as a reason to slack off, but to work harder than ever and meet and exceed the potential for which the service members were recognized.

Alston, a big believer in the old adage “Mission First, People Always,” commented on his emphasis on taking the time to meet and recognize outstanding people in the organization.

“People are the most important platform we have in keeping our country free.”

Alston also coined several personnel he met during his visit on the spot based on his conversations with them and their supervisors’ comments.

The ten personnel Alston recognized on behalf of the services were, in alphabetical order (view slideshow):

• U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Barker, cyber operations specialist
• U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Katymarie Barnosky, intelligence specialist
• U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyle Black, information systems technician
• U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jonathan Butler, computer network operations technician
• U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Sammy Davis Jr., J37 exercise lead
• U.S. Army Pfc. Tyler Goodman, intelligence analyst
• U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Racquel James, global information grid operations mission lead
• U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Morton, intelligence analyst
• U.S. Army Sgt. Jennifer Perry, cyber readiness planner
• U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Matthew Towers, cyber capabilities evaluator