The North American Aerospace Defense Command announced its 2005 top performers March 24.
“Our winners represent the very finest examples of committed service to a noble cause,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. D. Scott Frye, NORAD Senior Enlisted Advisor.
These annual awards recognize the command’s top performers in each category.
The 2005 winners are:
• Senior Airman Ray Rodriguez, operations directorate, junior enlisted;
• Canadian Forces Sgt. Donald Farr, Canadian Forces Support Unit, noncommissioned officer;
• Army Staff Sgt. Marshall Smith, operations directorate, Reserve NCO;
• Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Vortherms, Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, senior NCO;
• Senior Master Sgt. Jimmy Ward, training and exercise directorate, Reserve senior NCO;
• Navy Lt. Andrew Boyden, intelligence directorate, company grade officer;
• Donna Crump, Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, civilian category one; and
• Brenda Schulz, intelligence directorate, civilian category two.
Rodriguez, the assistant noncommissioned officer-in-charge for personnel and information management, serves as the operations directorate’s focal point for the command’s Task Management System. He reviewed, processed and ensured timely action and responses on more than 1,800 taskers. Rodriguez also serves as the agency program coordinator for the directorate’s 50 government credit card accounts. He also serves as an assistant coach for a Mighty Mites preschool basketball team.
Farr, a personnel services section supervisor, is responsible for providing administrative, financial and educational support for the 140 Canadian Forces members and their family members in Colorado Springs. Farr also offered overarching financial and administrative guidance to another 200 Canadian Forces personnel serving in 14 locations throughout the United States. His efforts with U.S. Customs and manufacturers of educational material reduced the procurement time for French-language training materials from several months to a few weeks.
Smith, an information operations planner, streamlined the approval process for 45,000 products to keep Hurricane Katrina evacuees informed while he was deployed to support Joint Task Force Katrina. He uncovered vital civil affairs assets and developed detailed scenarios targeted at integrating civil affairs and honing the command’s ability to respond to national disasters. Smith also developed a training product to highlight unused information operations assets which were field tested and praised as a “phenomenal resource” by disaster control officers and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials. He also led the bi-national command color guard in eight events.
Vortherms, crew chief for the Air Warning Center “Echo” crew, demonstrated outstanding technical skill during the Air Warning Center prosecution of approximately 220 NORAD air tracks of interest which resulted in more than 60 fighter intercepts. He supervised the implementation of special action temporary flight restriction zones over critical leadership and high-value locations to help safeguard the president, vice president and numerous national events. Vortherms was hand-picked to serve as the CMOC first sergeant, an additional duty that saw him work an extra 165 hours in six months supporting the 240 assigned personnel. Among numerous volunteer endeavors, he donated 65 hours of his time to the Grant Elementary School Communicative Disorders Program and 45 hours at the YMCA computer classroom.
Ward, senior NCO training manager, transformed the plan for a three-level training program into a reality, converting 17 lessons to on-online delivery and saving 40,000 man-hours. He also mobilized directorates to design individual curriculum and served as administrator for the 165-member nationwide Homeland Security and Defense Education Consortium. Ward organized and led students in a self-help project to build a paved road to a school, sponsored four youths in the Boys and Girls Club of America and led fund-raising activities for new fences around the high school baseball fields. He also helped organize and establish the first-ever Court Appointed Special Advocate program in Craighead, Ark., to represent troubled youth in the courtroom during parental abuse cases.
Boyden, the asymmetric vulnerabilities deputy branch chief, aides the chief in all collection, analysis, production and dissemination of 15 integrated threat assessments and special event assessments on behalf of the Combined Intelligence Fusion Center. He personally managed the daily construction of the commander’s intelligence brief, coordinating with national level agencies and law enforcement officials. While serving in the missile shop, Boyden was the sole architect and developer of the shop’s training plan, outlining the requirements and schedule of training events. Boyden also represented the command promoting the NORAD Tracks Santa program at the 2005 Hollywood Christmas Parade in Hollywood, Calif.
Crump is the only CMOC administrative assistant to support two directorates on a daily basis. She is an agency program coordinator for the 142 government travel card accounts, which totaled more than $679,000, and government purchase card monitor for seven directorates which spent more than $266,000. Crump is pursuing a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. She serves as the treasurer for a local Boy Scout troop and is an active participant in her church’s bell choir.
Schulz, an administrative assistant, was the first intelligence directorate employee to receive a Special Act or Service Award for outstanding service to the directorate. She organized more than 100 employee files, eliminating extraneous documents and standardizing file processing. Schulz authored an operating instruction for the directorate personnel manpower advisory board, setting up monthly meetings, publishing minutes, monitoring progress and confirming all actions were appropriately executed and guaranteeing the right person was in the right job. She was also recognized by the International Association of Administrative Professionals, Pikes Peak Chapter, where she serves as the Ways and Means chairperson, as their member of the year for 2005.