FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz.,-- Recognizing the Army’s Network Enterprise Technology Command’ s top civilian talent for 2020 is perhaps one of the most enjoyable activities this year for NETCOM’s Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett, as she announced NETCOM’s Global Civilian and Junior Civilian of the Year winners April 8, after a virtual panel of senior civilians, from across the global command, selected the top civilians from the annual winners nominated from the respective units under NETCOM.
James Wyatt, Information Technology (IT) Specialist, 7th Signal Command, 106th Signal Brigade, Regional Network Enterprise Center, earned the title of 2020 Civilian of the Year.
Heather Roberts-Wrenn, Administrative Officer, Regional Cyber Center - Continental United States, has earned the title of 2020 Junior Civilian of the Year.
Wyatt’s acts of selfless service, while assigned to the 106th SB RCC, were critical in providing outstanding system administration support to the Joint Base San Antonio - Fort Sam Houston community. His actions were nothing less than stellar while servicing and hardening 150 servers on both NIPR and SIPR environments, positively impacting the Army's cyber posture while concurrently developing value added repeatable processes for reuse by NETCOM entities.
Roberts-Wrenn’s daily actions, leadership and overall investment to do what is necessary in order to best assure the RCC-C’s ability to meet mission exemplified the Army’s core value of selfless service. Her direct engagement and leadership to provide timely and quality support services for all RCC-C personnel are key contributors to organizational proficiency and morale; thereby, posturing the RCC-C for continued mission success.
Judging was tight as nominees from across the command vied for the title of Civilian of the Year and Junior Civilian of the Year. The other competitors were Justin Gault, G6 Staff Action Officer, NETCOM Headquarters and Dylan Baker, Strategic Operations Planner, NETCOM Headquarters; Richard Taylor, IT Specialist, 7th Signal Command, Joint-Base Lewis-McChord Network Enterprise Center; Ms. Alisa Imamura, IT Specialist, HHC 311th Signal Command; Tearence Stewart, Network Infrastructure Division Chief, 516th Signal Brigade, 78th Signal Battalion and Dwight Dinger, Telephone Support Branch Chief, also from the 516th Signal Brigade, 78th Signal Battalion; Stacey Croskey, Network Infrastructure Specialist, Cyber Protection Brigade and Mitchell Gibson, Network Analyst, also from the Cyber Protection Brigade; Nathan Slack, IT Specialist, 2d Signal Brigade 509th Signal Battalion; Stephen Grandison, System Administration Operations, 160th Signal Brigade, 25th Signal Battalion and Gregory Baker, Operations Watch Officer, Regional Cyber Center - Continental United States.
“I was shocked, as I was not expecting to even be considered at the NETCOM level,” said Wyatt, the command’s Civilian of the Year, when he heard he had earned the honors. “I’m not one that relishes recognition, especially such broad recognition, for my work. To me, the drive that apparently garners this kind of recognition is just who I am.”
When asked what advice he would give others competing at this level Wyatt said, “I am always learning. I refuse to put on the blinders and focus all of my efforts on a single technology or task. It is easy to get stagnant and potentially irrelevant if you don’t seek out opportunities to learn something new. I have worked in every aspect of Information Technology from help desk to server administration, from administering medical technologies to research and development.”
As for what’s next, Wyatt said “I’m pretty happy where I am as I still have more to learn about how IT works in the Army. I would probably entertain getting back into a management position in the future. And, I will always be seeking out something new to learn and become proficient in.”
“I am quite honored to have been selected by leadership as this year's Junior Civilian of the Year for NETCOM,” said Roberts-Wrenn, “I know we have many hardworking, dedicated folks in the command, and I am grateful to my leadership for their nomination and humbled by my selection.
“I recommend that others look for opportunities to create efficiencies in their work and be proactive in seeking improvements for the organization as a whole,” said Roberts-Wrenn. “I would like to thank my colleagues in G1 and the Orderly Room who have shown me the ropes, my excellent colleagues in the RCC-CONUS, and my supervisor and leaders in the RCC-C.”
Roberts-Wrenn’s future aspirations are close to home as she hopes to continue to advance in her career as a DA Civilian and continue to serve the public in that capacity.
MG Barrett said the voting panel had a very tough decision in selecting one top performer from a group of outstanding Civilians in each category. The competition was extremely close, with nominations from each of the Commands competing for the top spot.
“Each of these Civilians was their respective Command Civilian of the Year and should be very proud of that accomplishment,” said Barrett. “NETCOM is great because of the exceptional teamwork across the command and the incredible Civilians that enable NETCOM to complete its mission.”
For more information on NETCOM please visit: https://www.army.mil/netcom
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