Photo By Alexis Smith | Capt. Christina Hicks, NCDOC commanding officer, presents Tammy Fletcher with the...... read more read more
Suffolk, Va. - A Sailor. A contractor. And finally, a civilian. That’s Tammy Fletcher, who has dedicated 26 years of service to Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC). During a sit-down interview with NCDOC’s Public Affairs Officer, Alexis Smith, Fletcher said, “I owe it all to teamwork! This has been an awesome command to work for – always growing and forward leaning with a bunch of amazing teammates.”
Fletcher stands as the only NCDOC employee to be recognized as both Sailor of the Year (2001) and Civilian of the Year (2012).
The daughter of a career Marine, Fletcher was born in Orange County, Calif., and raised in Havelock, North Carolina (Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station). She enlisted in the Navy as a Cryptologic Technician Maintenance (CTM) and reported for boot camp at Recruit Training Center in Orlando, Fla., in May 1986.
In 1997, Cryptologic Technician Maintenance First Class Petty Officer Fletcher reported to Navy Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT), which was part of the Fleet Information Warfare Command (FIWC), as a Defensive Information Warfare Technician. She established herself as the subject matter expert in intrusion detection, vulnerability analysis, and computer network incident response, and provided critical training and support for Fleet Red Team exercises.
Fletcher shared a few vivid memorable work-related stories. “In 2000 I took the very first NAVCIRT Sea Duty orders and deployed with Commander Cruiser Destroyer Group Twelve on USS Enterprise. I deployed with the FIWC Information Warfare (IW) Team and, along with my Computer Network Defense (CND) deployer duties, I also stood the IW watch,” Fletcher said, “I was on watch during 9/11 and again when the U.S. launched missiles into Afghanistan.”
During her time at sea, she earned both surface warfare and air warfare qualification pins. “We also stood up the CND Deployer department, which has now grown and matured to Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) Afloat. I also stood the watch as CND Watch Officer for many years, now known as BWC, or Battle Watch Captain. Our watch team photo is hanging up in several places in the command,” Fletcher said. “I was also one of the key participants who established the Cryptologic Technician Networks (CTN) rating in 2004,” she added.
Since 2004, Ms. Fletcher led the command for six Cybersecurity Service Provider (CSSP) certification and accreditation inspections. In that time, NAVCIRT/NCDOC earned the highest accreditation in the DoD multiple times. The FIRST ever three-time Level 3 exemplary CSSP!
On Jan. 10, 2006, NAVCIRT was commissioned as a command and renamed as NCDOC and Ms. Fletcher was recognized as a Plank Owner.
When Ms. Fletcher retired from the Navy as a CTMC (AW/SW) in 2006, she returned to NCDOC as a contractor for CACI and helped stand up the N5 Plans, Policy and Programs department.
It wasn’t until 2011 when she made the move from contractor to General Schedule or GS civilian employee.
Her personal decorations during her active-duty service in the Navy include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), Joint Service Achievement Medal (five awards), Good Conduct Medal (five awards), the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (two awards) as well as various unit service awards.
On June 2, 2023, during the monthly All Hands ceremony at NCDOC, Capt. Christina Hicks, NCDOC’s commanding officer, presented Fletcher with the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, where she was also recognized with a standing ovation from Sailors, contractors, and civilians in attendance.
The following is advice Ms. Fletcher would share with someone who is just beginning their military career. “Lean in. Lean forward. Get engaged. Stay Curious. Ask questions … I asked lots and lots of questions! Remember that you don’t have to know everything, but you do need to have a great working relationship with those who do,” Fletcher said. “Ask questions. People are interesting. You’ll never know someone’s story if you don’t take the time to get to know them. Ask questions. And lastly, if you don’t ask for something that you need or want, the answer will always be no.”
I asked Fletcher what she felt about retirement. She replied, “Retirement is both happy and bittersweet. I love working at NCDOC, and the people who make this place tick so well. I will miss both the command and the comradery.”
Ms. Fletcher already has a busy agenda of events she’s looking forward to after retirement. She will spend more time with family and friends, travel a bit, knocking things off her bucket list. She plans on hiking, going to the beach, bike riding – just a bunch of fun stuff! Oh, and home improvement projects.
NCDOC has grown to more than 900 military, government civilian, and contractor personnel. Ms. Fletcher, the 19th person onboard, retired on June 30.
NCDOC’s mission is to coordinate, monitor, and oversee the defense of Navy computer networks and systems. Provide Cyber Security Service Provider (CSSP) services and execute Defensive Cyberspace Operations (DCO) in order to enable global power projection.
For more information on NCDOC, visit the command Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavyCyberWarriors or the public web page at https://www.navifor.usff.navy.mil/ncdoc/.
-USN-
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2023 09:33 |
| Story ID: | 448169 |
| Location: | SUFFOLK, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 773 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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