Top U.S. Missile Defenders for 2014 Honored: MDAA

On Friday, the best U.S. missile defenders in 2014 for the United States Army, Air Force, Navy and National Guard were honored at an awards ceremony in Alexandria, VA.

It was the Fifth “Missile Defender of the Year” award ceremony to be hosted by the Missile

Defense Advocacy Alliance  beginning in 2010. The date of ceremony, January 9, reflects the first use of U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense in combat on January 18, 1991. Awardees are selected by their peers and commanding officers in their service branches for demonstrating extraordinary excellence in the operation of the nation’s missile defense systems at home and overseas over the past year.

“These special award winners exemplified excellence of leadership in making the United States, our forward operating troops and allies safe from integrated air and ballistic missile threats throughout 2014.” Stated Riki Ellison, Chairman and Founder of MDAA

The winners of the 2014 MDAA Missile Defender of the Year Awards are:

Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Frazier

Stationed in Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina

U.S. Air Force

Staff Sergeant MichaelSean McSherry

 Deployed to Arabian Gulf Region

U.S. Army

Staff Sergeant Norman Perkins III

Stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

U.S.Army National Guard

Fire Control Second Class Petty Officer Bartholomew Ringer

Deployed on the USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) operating out of Rota, Spain

U.S. Navy

Presenting the awards at the ceremony were Vice Chief of Naval Operations ADM Michelle Howard (USN), Commander of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, LTG David Mann (USA), Deputy Commander of US NORTHCOM, Lieutenant General Michael Dubie (USA) and Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, Lieutenant General Judy Fedder (USAF).

In his remarks, Riki Ellison concluded by saying “we are fortunate to have game changers that have made a tremendous difference in winning. It is great to see four different branches and cultures come together. This is what this event is for.

For more information on MDAA’s Fifth Annual Missile Defender of the Year Awards, or to schedule an interview with MDAA Chairman Riki Ellison, please contact Ian Williams at iwilliams@missiledefenseadvocacy.org or call 703-299-0060.

About Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance

MDAA’s mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States, its armed forces and its allies against missile threats.We are a non-partisan membership-based and membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity.