Ramstein NCOs win AF awards

Two NCOs at the 1st Air and Space Communications Operations Squadron were recently recognized as Air Force Information Dominance Award recipients.

Master Sgt. Larry Miller, a cyber defender (1B4X1), won the Air Force’s most
outstanding information assurance program manager award of 2011.

As the winner of this award, Miller will go on to compete against nominees from other services and federal agencies at the national level for NSA’s Frank B. Rowlett award for individual accomplishments in the field of information systems security.
Miller leads a one-of-a-kind team of cyber defenders whose mission is to maintain the security of U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s intelligence network.

Over the past year, Miller has been personally involved in the development of a vulnerability tracking system, named a best practice by Headquarters Air Force. This is the second year running that he has led his section to an AF-level award.
Tech. Sgt. Brad Claypool, a global command and control systems administrator, won the Air Force’s most outstanding cyber systems operations (3D0X2) NCO of
2011. The GCCS is a relatively new addition to the 1st ACOS mission set, and Claypool has been an invaluable linchpin to the GCCS mission since it migrated to 1st ACOS in 2008.

The 1st ACOS is tasked with providing GCCS support to USAFE users and
general communications support to USAFE intelligence analysts resulting in European and African theater-wide impacts. The awards keep stacking up for this niche squadron and its dedicated members. With only a sliver of the Air Force’s total cyber force, the unit earned three of the 42 possible Dominance Awards categories at the Air Force level, with three additional winners at the major command level.

“We’re proud of our members and the tradition of excellence that they have instilled in the squadron,” said Lt. Col. Hugh St. Martin, 1st ACOS commander. “We will continue to recognize our foremost Airmen for their outstanding contributions and hope that doing so encourages the unit as a whole to continue that tradition. Miller and Claypool are deserving recipients and role model ‘Comm Eagles’ winning today’s fight and shaping the future for our squadron, wing and Air Force.”