United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command / Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT) Future Warfare Center's Donovan Etheridge was recently nominated for the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara for his work on the successful program for the Warfighter, Distributed Mission Operations-Air Defense Artillery (DMO-ADA). DMO-ADA has already supported many training exercises, including America's Shields, Amalgam Arrows, Amalgam Dart, and Deployable-Homeland Air and Cruise Missile Defense (D-HACMD).

Etheridge is the program manager for DMO-ADA. As program manager he provides sustainment training capability for the Air Defense Warfighters who are currently involved in the homeland defense mission.

"It is always great to be recognized, especially [considering] the high level of effort my team and I put into the development of this program," Etheridge said. "I am extremely honored to have received this award and I share this success with my team and the Warfighter."

Etheridge oversaw the program from the earliest concept stage until the final program was completed.

Etheridge ran numerous field tests, training events and mission rehearsal exercises in order to prepare the system for actual Warfighter use. The program is now being used at the Fires Center of Excellence in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

The Honorable Order of Saint Barbara is a military honor society of the United States for both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Artillery. The award is named for the patron saint of artillerymen. It recognizes those individuals who have demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and moral character.

"DMO-ADA was designed and developed to sustain a high level of readiness for the Warfighter with the homeland defense mission," said Etheridge. "The program provides complete battle management representation from National Command Authority (NCA) to individual gunners with the Warfighters in-the-loop making the decisions."

Maj. Gen. Herbert L. Newton of the Army Air Missile Defense Command (AAMDC) nominated Etheridge for his service. The nomination was approved by USASMDC/ARSTRAT Commanding General Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell. The award was presented by Brig. Gen. Roger F. Mathews, the commandant of the United States Army Air Defense School, United States Army Fires Center of Excellence. Etheridge formally received the award on October 24, 2009.