REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- Although she began her adventure in the Navy, one Army civilian serves on a team that provides satellite resource planning necessary to meet the joint and Army Warfighter's satellite communication requirements.
Jessica Sutton, wideband network planner, Regional SATCOM (Satellite Communications) Support Center-Europe, or RSSC-Europe, became an Army civilian working for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command in August 2014.
Prior to joining the USASMDC/ARSTRAT team, she was a defense contractor as the commercial SATCOM planner and validator in Stuttgart, Germany. Before coming to Europe, Sutton was a defense contractor at RSSC-East at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, as the commercial cell planner for seven years.
"I originally joined the Navy at age 17, and completed just under 10 years active duty as a radioman, then Information Systems technician," Sutton said. "My specialty was communications that was technical control, satellite communications and Message Center-centric."
While in the Navy, she served and trained in Illinois; Virginia; California; Sicily; and Bahrain. Sutton also served onboard the USS Nimitz, where on deployment she visited Hawaii, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Hong Kong, Guam and Bahrain.
After her active duty time, she continued being a Navy Reservist while also beginning her civilian career.
Sutton said that as a wideband planner, she is part of a wideband team that processes validated Satellite Access Requests from U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command and numerous international partners. She said they engineer viable military super high frequency and wideband satellite solutions to ensure sustained satellite communications for the Warfighter.
When talking about her organization, she referred to them as not only colleagues, but also as family.
"RSSC-Europe is a very close knit unit and we all work together great as a team," Sutton said. "The working environment can be fun, as all of our personalities mesh together pretty well and we all work hard to accomplish the mission together successfully. I definitely consider my colleagues as my 'RSSC Family.'"
She explained how her past experiences have helped her to get to where she is now.
"Definitely my time served on active duty in communications gave me the background necessary to be able to perform the job I'm doing now," Sutton said. "The military way of life, with its ethics, training and hierarchy, really set me up to continue a career supporting the Warfighter as a Department of Defense and Department of the Army employee."
Sutton then took a moment to discuss her biggest personal and professional influences.
"My father's example of hard work and success and his instilling in me that I could do whatever I wanted to achieve if I worked hard for it at a very young age was paramount in my decisions as a young adult and has carried with me throughout my career," Sutton said. "He passed away in 2009, and he was so proud of me and my accomplishments then. It saddens me that he isn't around to continue to witness the progress I've made and where I will go in my career.
"My oldest daughter, Mikaela Symone, is currently 14 years old and I can honestly say that some of the hardest decisions I had to make I made and took risks to benefit her and to show her that she can one day achieve success also with hard work," she added. "I have to set the example for her and my other children Alivia, Cameron and Piper."
While giving some professional advice to young Soldiers and civilians, Sutton emphasized the importance of training and education
"In the SATCOM community, it is nice to see young Soldiers who are given the opportunity to work in such a specialized field," she said. "I would advise them to embrace it and take full advantage of the doors that can open for them for their future. They also need to take advantage of tuition assistance."
Sutton also talked about some of her favorite places to live and some of the exciting things she has been able to witness on her journey.
"Sicily was and is by far my favorite place to live," Sutton said. "I really enjoy Germany as well, as living in Europe gives the advantage to visit and travel to other places and is a great place for my husband and I to raise our children.
"There is nothing like being out to sea on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier," she added. "Between the shared living quarters and confined spaces to the amazing sunrises and sunsets on the open waters it was quite an experience. The most impactful scenario was to go up to the O-10 level in the superstructure of the ship at night during flight operations and watch the fighter jets take off and land on the ship in the middle of nowhere."
With all she has accomplished, Sutton said she always remembers the important things in life.
"I enjoy spending time with my wonderful husband, Kelvin, and my kiddos," Sutton said. "I also enjoy traveling to new places and cooking. I'm also attending college classes through the University of Maryland to finish up my bachelor's degree. That's not necessarily something I like to do in my free time, but more of something I need to do."
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