JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- More than 44 members of the 856th Cyber Protection Team and 140th Cyber Operations Squadron, here, ended their six-month mobilization with an award ceremony held at the theater on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Feb. 29, 2024. The ceremony honored the support team that helped them prepare and sustain their call to duty as well as announce the unit's second quarter award winners.
Seventeen individuals were recognized, with the top five being highlighted for going "above and beyond, helping us through challenges and roadblocks that we would not have been able to come through without their unwavering support," said Senior Master Sgt. DeGuzman, noncommissioned officer-in-charge, 856 CPT and ceremony narrator.
The areas of support covered pay, mobilization funding, vehicle support, morale, and pre deployment in-processing, logistics, lodging and a host of other items.
With the support squared away, the cyber team was free to carry out its mission with minimal issues, allowing them to do what they trained for and what they do best.
New Jersey National Guard Commander, Brig. Gen. Bradford Everman, opened the ceremony with words of praise for the numerous accomplishments the cyber members achieved during mobilization. The general noted that the global impact the unit had is recognized by the Air Force and DoD levels. The audience heard just a snippet of the accomplishments.
In just a 6-month period the team completed nine Defensive Cyber Operations missions globally, across six DoD and NATO sites, supporting four combatant commands; successfully met a 24-hour deadline to support a quick reaction, emergent tasking, the first of its kind for the 856 CPT; successfully transported over 3,000 pounds of assets and personnel over a combined 20,000 miles of travel, across all missions; and performed and maintained over 2,000+ hours of weapon system uptime and Hunt Operations, leading to the identification of over 18,000 cyber vulnerabilities for remediation.
The awardees are listed below:
Master Sgt. Christie Smith, 108th Force Support Squadron
Master Sgt. Michael Robinson, 108th Wing Comptroller Flight
Master Sgt. Christian Faust, 108th Logistic Readiness Squadron
2nd Lt. Daniel Gardner, 108th LRS
Jill Barrett, 108th Wing psychological director
Melissa Garner, director of sales, Marriot Properties
Staff Sgt. Joshua Heath, 108th Wing Comptroller Flight
Maj. Zaka McCoy, 108th Wing CPTF
Tech. Sgt. Kiyara Jackson, 108th FSS
Master Sgt. Illiana Rodriguez, 108th FSS
Master Sgt. Michelle Munoz, 108th Operations Group
Master Sgt. David Savino, 108th OG
Alicia Stasiulis, 87th Community Child Care Coordinator
Tech. Sgt. Ryan Davis, 108th FSS
Staff Sgt. Karen Dileo, 108th LRS
Staff Sgt. Shawn Naiduk, 108th LRS
Doug Ridgway, Airman and Family Readiness
140 COS Quarterly Award Winners are:
Senior Airman Sean MacMorris, Airman of the Quarter
Staff Sgt. Mauricio Blandon, Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter
Master Sgt. Kerry Pilkey, Senior NCO of the Quarter
Capt. Alyssa Miranda, Company Grade Officer of the Quarter
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