Photo By Sgt. Tyrone Williams | Citizen-Soldiers and Citizen-Airmen in the 257th Army Band, District of Columbia...... read more read more
The annual Awards and Decorations Ceremony commemorates outstanding individual Soldiers, Airmen, civilians, and families who have gone above and beyond with achievements that foster a sense of legacy and relevance for the D.C. Capital Guardians.
The members of the 257th Army Band filled the massive drill hall and stadium with the brass sounds of trumpets and sousaphone tubas, along with percussive drums and cymbals, and the mellow and sultry saxophones and clarinets. The band played on during two key pass-and-review procedures consisting of several participants from the D.C. National Guard, as they stood in formation or marched in their sharp, disciplined military manner. Throughout the ceremony, the hushed rumble of Soldiers and Airmen and other attendees rising from seats to every “attention to orders” and “please rise” requests from the podium. The Stars and Stripes was present in the colors on the drill floor, as well as a large star-spangled banner hanging high in the rafters directly above the stage area.
The invocation by the chaplain called for a moment of silence for five fallen comrades, whom were either enlisted, officers or retired in or from the Army and Air National Guard.
The stage was set for three major purposes for the awards and decorations ceremony: the assumption of responsibility of an enlisted leader to another position within the District of Columbia National Guard, recognition of honorable accomplishments of several Soldiers, Airmen and civilians, and recognition of a fighter jet pilot who survived, miraculously unharmed, after heroic efforts during a malfunction that led to the F-16 he was flying to crash near Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in early April 2017, which resulted in no damage to property or human loss of life on the ground.
Command Sgt. Maj. Michael F. Brooks assumed responsibility of the entire District of Columbia National Guard as the Senior Enlisted Leader, and will serve as the principal advisor for enlisted matters to Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, Acting Commanding General, District of Columbia, and also the host of the ceremony.
After receiving the Meritorious Service Medal from Walker, “no one gets this far in the military alone” was a recurring theme throughout CSM Brooks’ speech.
“If you take care of the Soldier, the Soldier will take care of you,” Brooks said. “I believe you absorb a portion of every leader you come across. On your journey you have to decide what parts you’re going to take with you; take the good, and leave the bad.” Brooks thanked other leaders throughout his career, his family he grew up with, his wife and children, and best friends.
“To the Soldiers and Airmen of the D.C. National Guard, I only ask one thing of you; be better today than you were yesterday, and tomorrow, be better than today,” Brooks said. “And I guarantee you, we’ll take this organization to the next level.”
“Sound attention. Sound the adjutant’s call.” These commands struck up the band and the ceremony moved into the next phase, during which Brooks and Walker proceeded to “review the line,” during which they marched and observed the formations of service members made of the Army and Air Staff, and the Youth Challenge Academy.
Brooks was previously the Land Component Command Sergeant Major.
After the 257th Army Band played the National Anthem, the next declaration, “Sir, the awardees and the colors are present” transitioned the ceremony into a “sound-off” by all Capital Guardians representing their units in the D.C. National Guard. Soldiers, Airmen and cadets sent shouts and occasional fast-paced foot stomps reverberating throughout the drill hall, fostering esprit de corps as they all showed support and a sense of belonging as unit names were called off one by one, from headquarters to military police to public affairs and maintenance companies, battalions, teams, groups, flights, squadrons, wings, and the Youth Challenge Academy.
Then the Army and Air rolled right along into its recognition and commemoration phase, during which Soldiers, Airmen, and families received awards for outstanding achievements throughout the year.
Many service members were recognized at the ceremony in various “of-the-year” categories, including First Sergeants, Non-Commissioned Officer, Soldier, Airman, Best Warrior, Family, and many leadership awards. Included among them was Sgt. Michael J. Cohen, the first Soldier from the DCNG to compete in the Best Warrior competition at the national level after winning first place at the regional level. Some recipients were presented with more than one award, such as Sgt. Timothy A. Robinson, who won in both the categories of 2017 Outstanding NCO of the Year and 2017 DCNG Best Warrior (Army).
Females represented their units in these categories right alongside the males, such as Spc. Katia N. Bell, who won Outstanding Soldier of the Year, as well as Army Spc. Monique N. Jones and Air Tech Sgt. Nicolette O. Marshall as Honor Guard Members of the Year, and Sgt. Victoria J. Golding, Outstanding Band Member.
Among the awardees was Air Force Capt. Jonathan R. Morgan, a pilot who survived an F-16 fighter jet crash in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews, Maryland in April earlier this year. Morgan had safely ejected from the aircraft before it crashed in a wooded area near Joint Base Andrews without sustaining any injuries, and away from potential damage to property and loss of life. Gen. Jeffrey Bozard, 113th Wing Commander, presented Morgan with the Brig. Gen. Howard W. Kacy Flying Safety Award, for having an exceptional flying safety record and for successfully averting a malfunctioning aircraft from inflicting major damage on the ground during an emergency flight situation.
Bozard said Morgan made the correct assessment after the engine of the fighter jet quit, and ejected safely from the aircraft. Bozard provided a recap of the sequence of events that lasted about four minutes, according to the investigation.
“Six things hit the ground that day; two fuel tanks, one camera, one ejection seat, one F-16, and one Captain Morgan,” Bozard said. “We did not injure any person or damage any property.”
Bozard talked about the teamwork involving the recovery efforts on the ground by members of the 113th Wing of both Morgan and the aircraft. The sound of thunderous applause was followed by the dimming of the drill hall lights as two projector screens mounted on the balcony behind the units in formation showed the footage of a news report of the favorable reaction of people in the Maryland neighborhood to Morgan’s heroic actions. The drill hall then erupted in a notable standing ovation by everyone in attendance, followed by Walker presenting Morgan with a Meritorious Service Medal.
“Words and even the awards are so inefficient to describe what you’ve done not just for not the United States of America, but for the District of Columbia National Guard,” Walker said.
Walker’s closing remarks were about the pride of being a Capital Guardian, the quickness and efficiency of the Air National Guard in almost 6,000 launches of aircraft since September 11, 2001, appreciation and thanks to everyone and retirees for their attendance, and a recap of the involvement of the DCNG in the community over the past year.
Then the 257th Army Band played both the Army and Air Force songs, rolling along to the rhythm and cadence of drums and percussion and its other instruments in patriotic fashion as the units in formation marched off the drill hall floor. The units of the Army and Air National Guard, award recipients and the cadets of the Youth Challenge Academy mingled with the crowd of attendees and retirees and families as post-ceremony activities, such as the holiday luncheon, began just before noon at East Capitol Street Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia.
All of the awardees and the awards they received are featured in a live broadcast of the entire 2017 Awards and Decorations Ceremony can be viewed on the D.C. National Guard’s Facebook page, dated Sunday, December 3. Many articles have been written, and pictures taken and published, by both civilian and military news media and are available on the Washington Top News website at wtop.com, on dvidshub.net., at flickr.com, Facebook, and other internet sources and newspaper sources as well as social media.
| Date Taken: | 12.03.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.14.2017 15:53 |
| Story ID: | 258324 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON , DC, US |
| Hometown: | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
| Web Views: | 165 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, DC National Guard honors Soldiers and Airmen at end of year awards ceremony, by SGT Adrian Shelton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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