News From USJFCOM: USJFCOM airman receives Senior Military Member of the Quarter Award

Image of Tech Sergeant Thompson USJFCOM airman receives Senior Military Member of the Quarter Award

U.S. Joint Forces Command recently named Air Force Tech. Sgt. Elaine Thompson as the recipient of the command's Senior Military Member of the Quarter Award for the second quarter of 2006.
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By Robert Pursell
USJFCOM Public Affairs

(NORFOLK, Va. - Oct. 4, 2006) -- A U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) Air Force technical sergeant became the recipient of the command's Senior Military Member of the Quarter Award for the second quarter of 2006.

Army Col. Charles Otterstedt, deputy director for Operations, Plans, Logistics and Engineering Directorate (J3/4), nominated Elaine Thompson for the award for her outstanding professional duty performance, leadership and supervisory ability, self-improvement, physical condition, and military and community involvement.

According to her nomination letter, Thompson, as deputy chief of the J3/4 Support Division, supports a directorate of over 200 personnel by maintaining accountability of classified security containers and documents and making sure work spaces are secure. She also fulfilled the directorate's annual security inspection with zero discrepancies.

"My job is the lead administrator for the directorate. I handle administrative duties for all four services. I'm responsible for routing and tracking Joint Staff taskers to directorate POCs. I'm also the security manager for our directorate, which is a huge job," said Thompson. "I deal with personnel security, information security, and visit requests… everything from working with people to get their periodic investigations done to getting peoples' badges coded."

Otterstedt recognized Thompson for her leadership and supervisory abilities involving the implementation of the Defense Travel System (DTS) in the J3/4. He said that she is responsible for the processing of approximately 50 high-level awards and over 150 travel orders and claims. She helps to supervise the official travel budget of over $780,000.

Otterstedt explained, "With the implementation of DTS, Tech. Sgt. Thompson became the foremost expert for all official travel issues." He cited her preparation, scheduling, and training of all J3/4 administrators, numerous multi-service officers and civil service personnel on DTS.

The nomination letter also mentions that Thompson is focusing on self-improvement as she is working towards attaining her Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification. She also completed Network +, A+, and Security + courses.

Thompson is also a thoughtful and active contributor to the local community. She gave her time to organize a shoestring drive and donated the money to children who were unable to buy their school yearbooks. In the past, she also helped with Toys for Tots and other fundraisers.

In her off-duty time, Thompson is usually playing her role as a mother. "My eight year old son keeps me pretty busy. He's involved in all kinds of sports. I do a lot of stuff with the school," she said. She laughed as she added shopping to the list of things she does in her spare time.

When she has some extra time from that, Thompson volunteers her time for the Hampton Roads Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program.

"I've been in the military for 14 years, so everywhere that I have gone I have sponsored a child. I take them out and we have fun, go bowling, there are a lot of events to take part in," she said.

When told that she had won the award, Thompson explained, "I'm somewhat new to the command so I was so shocked. I didn't know it was that big here. I had won awards before but this is a big deal here."

In her nomination letter, Otterstedt explained how Thompson's hardworking nature has contributed to the command. "Tech. Sgt. Thompson sets the example and strives for flawless performance. Her reliability, maturity, versatility and work ethic have increased productivity and accountability," he said.