Osan officer named 480th Intelligence Wing CGO of the Year Published March 14, 2010 By Public Affairs 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- The Airmen from the 480th Intelligence Wing saluted their 2009 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for making exceptional contributions to the wing's global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission March 2 in 12 categories. Capt. Kathryn Fitzgerald, 303rd Intelligence Squadron, Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, is the Company Grade Officer of the Year. Those named as the 480th IW OAY are: Airman of the Year: Senior Airman Cheryl A. Moore, 8th IS. As the lead weapon system analyst, Airman Moore supported the intelligence needs of 40 crew members, produced 170 mission briefs, enabled the prosecution of 10,000 targets and found three Improvised Explosive Devices and 10 suspected terrorists. In addition, she initiated a new mission management process reducing man-hours by 66 percent to help ensure ISR mission crews were readiness for combat. NCO of the Year: Tech. Sgt Paul Kodiak, 10th IS. Sergeant Kodiak corrected a degraded satellite communication link then developed a guide that explained how to correct the communication link in the future. His actions stabilized world-wide data feeds for the U-2 aircraft. He also hosted an inaugural ground-to-air radio training that readied six people for deployment, saving the wing $29,000 on training costs. Senior NCO of the Year: Master Sgt. Marc Sica, 693rd ISR Group. As the theater authority on ISR optimization, Sergeant Sica maxed out the aircraft utilization rate, at the same time balancing national theater requirements for European Command and African Command. He also assembled an after action team made up of members from the different commands to include Air Force ISR Agency, Air Combat Command and the Air Staff resulting in the development of three major actions for future ISR operations. First Sgt. of the Year: Senior Master Sgt. Stephen Charles, 485th IS. Sergeant Charles penned, edited and boarded more than 150 awards for the squadron and its Airmen resulting in 40 awards for his unit. He also organized Wingman Day events by planning briefings and discussions for 88 unit members increasing the training and safety statistics to 94 percent. Company Grade Officer of the Year: Capt. Kathryn Fitzgerald, 303rd IS. Captain Fitzgerald was responsible for leading a multi-national Korean tactics conference with 117 attendees from four nations. She also tracked eight shipments of weapons of mass destruction and alerted the State Department. Her efforts resulted in the seizure of 35 tons of illegal weapons. Category I Civilian of the Year: April L. Shepherd, 10th IS. Ms. Shepherd expertly crafted 50 daily tasking reviews, analyzed the responses and limitations, and kept leaders aware of key issues. In addition, she revised personnel function guides by standardizing criteria for 15 programs to meet stringent Unit Compliance Inspection standards. She also refined the squadron's additional duty program by revising the format and formulating an electronic quick reference. Category II Civilian of the Year: Brian T. Yanik, 13th IS. Category II Civilian of the Year: Brian T. Yanik, 13th IS. Mr. Yanik crafted a floor plan for a new $46 million operations floor improving the work flow process analysis that will optimize the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations for years to come. In addition, he engineered and implemented a new counter IED tactic which resulted in the most dramatic increase in finding ISR IEDs to date. Category III Civilian of the Year: Patrick D. Masters, 693rd ISR Group. As the sole strategic planner for the group, Mr. Masters was responsible for steering the third major reorganization in just two years. He restructured 400 positions within the group by realigning three squadrons, two detachments and three operating locations. In addition, he compiled the fiscal year 2010 unfunded requirements earning $10 million for ISR operations. The awards going to units were: Associated Active Duty Unit of the Year: 13th IS. Associated Air National Guard Unit of the Year: 234th IS. Non-Associated Air National Guard Unit of the Year: 181st IS. 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs contributed to this article.