Jackie Rustigian, a Hartford, Conn. native, retired from federal civil service with the Army at a ceremony held on Fort Belvoir, Va., on Dec. 6, 2018.
Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford, U.S. Army Chief Information Officer/G-6, presided over the ceremony. In attendance were family and friends from Connecticut, New York, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida, including her cousin, Roy Zartarian, mayor of Newington, Conn.
Jackie related much of her success and endurance to being raised on the Trinity College campus, attending Hartford public schools, and knowing she would go to college. As the daughter of Jacob and Stella Rustigian, she followed in her parents’ footsteps displaying a strong work ethic and a commitment of service to others. Her brother, Lt. Col. (USAF Ret) George Rustigian and sister, Dr. Arsine Oshagan followed similar paths of accomplishment and service.
Jackie served the last 20 years of her 45-year Washington D.C. based federal civilian career on the staff of the Army Chief Information Officer/G-6. Her last position was as the Director of the Army’s Civilian Information Technology Management (ITM) Career Program 34.
During her tenure as CP-34 director, Rustigian advanced career development programs as models of lifelong learning for the Army’s 13,000 ITM professionals. She was instrumental in building a leader development program that mentors personnel from interns through senior levels to grow new technology skill sets for the Army’s Civilian IT workforce, incorporating training, advanced education, and training with industry opportunities.
Rustigian’s civilian awards include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the Superior Civilian Service Award, the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, the National Library of Medicine Equal Employment Opportunity Award, and the Federal Computer Week FED 100 Award for advancing the field of IT training.
Rustigian attended Connecticut College in New London, Conn., across from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She also earned master’s degrees in librarianship from Emory University and in human resources development from Virginia Tech.