Fort Drum community recognizes outstanding Civilian Employees

FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Members of the Fort Drum community gathered Thursday to recognize outstanding Civilian Employees from across the installation during a luncheon at the Commons. Post leaders acknowledged 22 employees who were nominated for Civilian of the Quarter for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014, before naming the Fort Drum Civilian of the Year for 2013.

The Network Enterprise Center hosted the event, which focused attention on cyber security and safeguarding computers, digital devices and social media accounts.

Col. Gary A. Rosenberg, Fort Drum garrison commander, took time to thank audience members for attending and honoring the post?'s exceptional Civilians.

?"We have the best workforce in the Army -- bar none," the colonel said. ?"I hear that repeatedly and I see it. It?'s such an honor for me to be here; whether you work for me directly or you work as part of Team Drum, you all do a fantastic job.

?"That?'s never been more obvious to those of us in leadership positions than it has been over the course of the last three or four weeks," Rosenberg added.

From an ice storm and blizzard to the below-freezing temperatures battering the North Country, Civilian Employees remained vigilant to ensure the post kept running even when the rest of the installation shut down, he explained.

?"We still had a significant number of folks -- some of whom are sitting in the audience -- who were at work," Rosenberg said.

?"We still had the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade returning from Afghanistan, and we had Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and its headquarters deploying from here," he said. ?"The airfield never closed.

?"We had people coming in and out -- Directorate of Emergency Services personnel, fire and ambulance crews out there working," he continued. ?"We had the Directorate of Public Works plowing the roads. There were lots and lots of people out there to make sure things kept going."

After his remarks, Rosenberg helped recognize the Civilian of the Quarter nominees.

The following employees received recognition for their contributions:

Wage Grade

Patrick C. Gibson, Logistics Readiness Center; Edgar Halls-worth, Directorate of Public Works; Frederick E. Hughes, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; Sean O?'Brien, Directorate of Public Works; James Wagner, Logistics Readiness Center; and Gina M. Weil, Network Enterprise Center.

General Schedule 1-8

Kathleen Browning, U.S. Army Dental Activity; Sonia Pearson, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity; Renaldo L. Tyler, Logistics Readiness Center; Charlotte White, Directorate of Public Works; and Kimberley Williams, Mission Support Element.

General Schedule 9-12

Lyle J. Decillis, Network Enterprise Center; Blake C. Dehner, Mission Support Element; Karen Gillette, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity; Timothy J. Jarvis, Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; Randy LeBlanc, Directorate of Public Works; and Mary Anne Vaughn, Directorate of Human Resources.

Supervisor

Tina M. Allen, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity; Annemarie S. Clegg, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation; Brian O?'Connor, Directorate of Human Resources; and Tessa D. Stokes, Logistics Readiness Center.

After recognizing the Civilian of the Quarter nominees / winners, Michael McKinnon, deputy to the garrison commander, helped recognize the 2013 Civilian of the Year.

?"The process of recognizing the Fort Drum Civilian of the Year is a pretty extensive process," McKinnon said. ?"To even be eligible for the award, an employee must have been a category winner in a previous Civilian of the Quarter ceremony.

?"Directorates then have the opportunity to submit just one of their previous award winners for consideration to be named Fort Drum Civilian of the Year," McKinnon added. ?"Directors submit written justification for their nominee, which is then evaluated and scored on specific criteria by a panel of five directors."

Out of six employees nominated this year, David Kalynycz, land mobile radio system administrator and senior engineer with the Network Enterprise Center, was named Civilian of the Year.

Other Civilians nominated were Benjamin Grass, Logistics Readiness Center; Sharon Hall, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity; Mike Jones, Directorate of Public Works; Gilbert McEachern, Directorate of Human Resources; and Randa Ortlieb, Directorate of Emergency Services.

During the ceremony, Michael McKinnon inadvertently failed to name McEachern as a nominee. McKinnon apologizes for the oversight.

For more about Kalynycz, see next week?'s issue of The Mountaineer.