For Scott Plymesser, being chosen as the best in his field is a source of pride and humility. Recently, Plymesser was awarded the U.S. Army's Kenneth C. Raymer Memorial Award. The annual award honors the top foreign disclosure officer in the Army intelligence community.
"I'm excited, proud and humbled to receive this award," Plymesser said. "It means a lot to me when my peers and leaders tell me that I have earned and deserve the Raymer award -- it's almost overwhelming."
Plymesser, a 55-year-old Army retiree, has been working as a civilian intelligence officer for nearly a decade and a half. He has ties to Italy from previous service and is the only foreign disclosure officer in U.S. Army Africa's G-2 Intelligence Directorate.
Plymesser explains his job and some of its challenges.
"A foreign disclosure officer or FDO is a Department of the Army appointed employee who oversees, controls and coordinates the approval of release of specific information to foreign governments or international organizations," Plymesser said.
He said that policy drives much of what can or can't be released to our partner nation in Africa and Europe.
Sgt. Maj. Mari Sidwell from USARAF's G-2 Intelligence Directorate applauds Plymesser's role as the only FDO in USARAF.
"As the sole USARAF foreign disclosure officer, Scott Plymesser works hard to be an absolute expert in the foreign disclosure arena," Sidwell said. "Upon assuming his duties, Scott quickly established foreign disclosure guidelines and procedures. He also produced product samples to facilitate and manage foreign disclosure operations. Additionally, Scott established a foreign disclosure page on the USARAF portal. This page provides a ready reference for foreign disclosure support. It also provides instruction policy to formalize foreign disclosure operations," Sidwell said.
During the Raymer Award presentation ceremony, USARAF Commander Maj. Gen. Patrick J. Donahue II complimented Plymesser's ?"can-do" attitude.
"Scott has a tough job and he is our only FDO. Often, when FDOs receive a request about the release of information, their first response is no. That's not the case with Scott. He looks for a way to say yes," Donahue said.
Plymesser said releasing information can be challenging, however, he attempts to serve our partner nations and his USARAF colleagues to the best of his ability.
"Sometimes, it takes a little digging into policies. An FDOs job is driven by policy and when there isn't any guiding policy you have to seek implementation from a higher level. This requires knowledge of the policies, marking procedures of classified information and also who to contact if there isn't guiding policy. Everything is driven at the national level, so if it is wrong it has an impact on national security and the U.S. government. As a result, I am very thorough," Plymesser said.
Plymesser credits his success to just that, thoroughness and a dedicated work ethic.
"I've built the USARAF program as it is today from scratch. I'm a hard worker and I try to reach perfection. I have a great group of colleagues and each and every one of the personnel that I interact with daily fills me with more knowledge to improve," Plymesser said.
Proof of that work ethic was evident last year as he was involved in several exercises and joint operations where he ensured all his products were released with 100 percent accuracy and were in compliance with national disclosure policy.
"Not only did Scott support several operations and exercises. He also created fact sheets on every African country within USARAF's area of responsibility. These fact sheets served to shorten processing time of sensitive products and contributed to mission accomplishment," Sidwell said.
Evidence of his workhorse work ethic last year credits him with reviewing nearly 240 products for distribution to approximately 400 countries.
The Kenneth C. Raymer Memorial Award is an annual award presented to a foreign disclosure officer who best exemplifies the attributes of expertise, professionalism and devotion to duty that is essential in providing Army commands with clear, concise, responsive and accurate value-added support, according to guidelines.
The Kenneth C. Raymer Memorial Award is a tribute to its namesake who was a foreign disclosure officer and is credited with many of the policies and oversight of the program. Raymer worked for more than 30 years as an intelligence officer.
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