SK1 Judith Hall

Storekeeper 1st Class Judith Hall is integral part of a growing team. At MFPU Bangor — charged with escorting high-value Navy assets, as well as preventing and deterring terrorism — she processed more than $400,000 in essential requisitions, reconciled more than $25,000 in unprocessed orders, oversaw some $3 million in travel claims and was critical in planning the fiscal 2008 budget.

While keeping her unit in good financial order, she also volunteers at a local food bank, knits caps for needy newborns and makes crafts to brighten the lives of lonely senior citizens.

AMT1 Christopher Hatch

If today’s new reservists get more out of their initial training than previous classes, they have a fellow Coast Guardsman to thank. Aviation Maintenance Technician 1st Class Christopher Hatch streamlined the Reserve Enlisted Basic Indoctrination program, revising more than 30 courses to make sure they were current.

He also kept up his rating skills, working with Air Station Atlantic City to qualify on the HH-65C helicopter.

Off duty, Hatch volunteers in youth sports and is a certified CPR instructor.

BM2 Clifford Keith

Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Clifford Keith says he'll always remember his first ocean rescue.

When the call about a swimmer in distress came June 3, 2007, Keith was the surf rescue swimmer on duty. At the beach, he found not one swimmer but five caught in a rip current about 100 yards from shore.

Keith first reached two teens and an 8-year-old girl, staying afloat together. Then he saw two men roughly 25 yards farther out.

Deciding the youngsters needed to be pulled to shore first, he struck out for the men, gave them a torpedo buoy, then returned to the children. After getting them to shore, he headed out again. But the exhausted men had lost the buoy and were drifting in the distance. Keith reached them, then signaled his line handler to pull them in.

KRGV Channel 5 reporter Rita Garcia recalls Keith saying, "I was so tired, but I kept going; I knew others needed my help."

AST2 Tye Conklin

Aviation Survival Technician 2nd Class Tye Conklin saved four people and one dog during rescue missions in 2007, and he also kept a 73-foot fishing vessel from going under through quick thinking, using a piece of wood and part of a rubber boot to patch a gash in the hull.

He helped train new lifesavers during 27 day and night rescue swimmer training missions. And the Coast Guard Aviation Training Center is evaluating Conklin's prototype for an emergency recovery device to help rescue swimmers if their hoists fail.

Lt. Brad McNally, a pilot at the air station, notes that if he goes on a night mission in bad weather, he wants Conklin on his crew. "His professionalism and dedication to duty would be tremendous assets to have on any mission, especially one in bad conditions."

Even off duty, Conklin is focused on rescuing those in trouble, volunteering for the National Ski Patrol.

Marine Science Technician 1st Class Anthony Clark

Prior service as an Army reservist; he and wife Elisa have three sons and two daughters.

CHARLESTON, S.C.—Anthony Clark's story is a tale of extremes.

In 2007, Clark, a Coast Guard marine science technician first class, went from an assignment in Alaska to the deserts of Iraq, from familiar shipmates to the military branch perhaps least like his own: the Army.

But not only did Clark survive his hitch as a sand Coastie, he thrived. By the time he left Iraq for his current job, as an inspector with Coast Guard Sector Charleston, S.C., Clark was the most sought-after expert in Iraq on hazardous materials, his commander said.

A native of Cleveland and an Army reservist before joining the Coast Guard, Clark's assignments in Alaska included patrolling the harbor in Juneau and helping to train Coast Guard auxiliarists, the civilians who volunteer their time and boats to work with the Coast Guard in lake and harbor patrols.

"When I first got that duty, I dreaded it," Clark said. "I thought, 'oh no,' but as it turned out, I completely loved it. I had a lot of fun with them. A lot of them were more eager to learn than a regular Coast Guard person."

But between the end of his time in Alaska and a scheduled move to Coast Guard Sector Charleston, S.C., Clark got word of a Coast Guard solicitation looking for people to volunteer to go to Iraq. He signed up.

The billet was attached to Redeployment Assistance and Inspection Detachment IV, and it would involve training Army units shipping back to the U.S. in how to pack their hazardous materials safely for the transit. From his port security work, Clark was already qualified in dealing with hazardous materials, so he helped train his squadmates before they all deployed in June.

The Army job was "a lot of long days and a lot of travel," Clark said. "I traveled all over Iraq—there's probably not a forward operating base I haven't been to—but at the same time, it was rewarding." Sixteen and 20-hour days were common, he said, seven days a week. Rocket and mortar attacks were a constant hazard.

Clark and his team trained soldiers, inspected containers and became the top group of their kind in Iraq, said Clark's Army commander, Lt. Col. Christopher Houston.

"At the time of his departure, [Clark] was the most sought-after hazmat authority in Iraq. It was a reputation he earned in every way," Houston said.

Army units sought Clark and his RAID IV team for training in how to pack up equipment considered "hazardous" for shipment back to the U.S., including nuclear, biological and chemical suits, unused diesel fuel, batteries, and other gear.

By October, Clark's time in Iraq was up, and his command in Charleston needed him. So he reported to the assignment in which he's been serving since, as the leading petty officer of the waterways management division for Coast Guard Sector Charleston. He's back to training junior maritime inspectors, working with the shipping industry and checking the thousands of containers that come each day into the Charleston's post. But that might not last much longer—Clark has volunteered to go back to Iraq.

It's all in the interest of keeping things interesting as he continues to ascend the Coast Guard ladder, Clark said. Reaching the top, for him, would mean becoming the service's top enlisted leader, master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard.

"I don't ever want to see myself sitting stagnant and just doing a job, to the point that it becomes nothing more than a job," he said. "Right now, this [the Coast Guard] is the only job I could say that I actually love. If I'm going to do something here, I'm going to do it the best I can."

Capt. Rosaline Mailandt-Norris

Capt. Rosaline Mailandt-Norris, deputy flight commander of the infrastructure flight for the 96th Communications Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, distinguished herself in 2007 by managing 130 personnel at four diverse work centers in her unit.

Under her leadership, Mailandt-Norris’ unit stopped more than 171 billion attempts to illegally access Eglin’s computer network.

She also earned kudos for taking over for the flight commander, a major, when he deployed for a year.

Outside the office, Mailandt-Norris is a Big Sister to two local girls, and she directed Special Olympics basketball competitions. She is married, has two teenage daughters and gave birth to twins in February.

Master Sgt. Brian McGee

Master Sgt. Brian McGee, vehicle operations flight chief for the 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Whiteman Air Force Base, earned a Bronze Star in 2007 while on deployment driving truck convoys from Kuwait to Iraq.

McGee volunteered for this dangerous deployment despite the fact that he was not vulnerable for deployment and he had a newborn daughter and was not due to go to the sandbox.

On the six-month deployment, he led a detachment of 165 airmen that completed 136 convoys — with no casualties.

McGee is on the board of directors of CLIMB, a community group that promotes volunteerism. He also was named 8th Air Force Logistics Senior NCO of the Quarter in 2007 and was Senior NCO of the Month in November.

Staff Sgt. Amanda Caldwell

Staff Sgt. Amanda Caldwell, executive assistant to the command chief of the 480th Intelligence Wing at Langley Air Force Base, has earned a reputation for being one of the most capable noncommissioned officers there at the wing.

During a 2007 deployment to the Kandahar Intelligence Fusion Center in Afghanistan, Caldwell earned an Army Commendation Medal, helped save an Army convoy from an attack and worked on intelligence that led to the safe return of 22 hostages.

Caldwell also was active in the community, helping raise money for the Virginia Special Olympics and participating in Race for a Cure. She was named the 2007 NCO of the Year for the 480th and was a distinguished graduate of Airman Leadership School.

Tech. Sgt. Darrell DeMotta

His boss didn't waiver when it came to choosing a lone joint terminal attack controller who would deploy to Iraq with an Army Special Forces team. "Technical Sergeant Darrell DeMotta volunteered for this duty, and I sent him without reservation due to his tactical knowledge, technical proficiency and his ability to respond calmly under pressure," said Lt. Col. Lee H. Marsh Jr., 2nd Air Operations Support Squadron.

DeMotta, the squadron's operations non-commissioned officer in charge, saved lives during the deployment, including an Iraqi police officer's after a sniper shot the officer, who was standing in front of him.

DeMotta also dragged one of the soldiers out of a house after three team members got shot during a raid on a suspected terrorist cell. In the midst of the firefight, he controlled helicopters and fighters while also setting up a medevac to save the casualties.

"Technical Sergeant Demotta never stopped controlling aircraft during the ordeal despite the immediate ground threat, an extraordinary act under the circumstances," said Master Sgt. Timothy Crusing, 2nd ASOS superintendent.

He earned a Bronze Star for his bravery on his last Iraq deployment.

At home, DeMotta and his wife help orphans in Eastern Europe, close to the 2nd's location in Germany. At Christmas, they bought gifts for 20 orphans from the Czech Republic, ranging from newborns to teenagers. DeMotta was also a reader for the first grade at a local elementary school.

Tech Sgt. Earl Covel Covel

Attached to a special operations unit, Covel's team took heavy fire, immediately sustaining four casualties while trying to arrest a high-value individual.

Few unclassified details exist for the mission, but Covel's supervisor, Master Sgt. Chistopher Spann, explains how Covel saved lives by establishing a medevac landing zone to fly out the wounded, including the unit commander.

"Technical Sergeant Covel displayed extremely heroic behavior when he took control of an out-of-control situation," Spann said.

Once friendly forces cleared the area, Covel directed an AC-130 gunship to pepper the enemy with rounds followed by an A-10 that destroyed the target with four 500-pound bombs.

He earned a Silver Star for his actions in Iraq and was getting selected as the Air Combat Command NCO of the year.

Back at Fort Lewis, Wash., Covel reduced the Combat Mission Ready Training Program by more than four months while maintaining the level of training.

Covel is a volunteer at home, too, mentoring mentoring underprivileged students at Walker High School.