The 2019 Secretary’s Award for Excellence recognizes outstanding individual achievement or innovation by an employee engaged in work to advance the mission of the Department of Homeland Security. This work may have resulted in superior performance, significant operational improvements or notable innovation in support of Department of Homeland Security missions.
Brendan J. Hanehan
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
St. Albans, Vermont
For effectively representing the Department’s interests in this increasing body of novel and complex U-visa litigation.
Thomas Kim
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Washington, D.C.
For strengthening the infrastructure and integrity of the E-Verify Program by enhancing identity validation capability for individuals hired in the United States.
Office of International Affairs: Latin America & Mexico Teams
Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans
Washington, D.C.
Michael Huston
Morgan Plumer
Edgar Ramirez
Jose V. Rodriquez
Allison Lopez
David Cloe
Viviana Salcedo
Edward Dolan
Michelle Lillie
Nate Samuelson
For exceptional teamwork in multiple Department-level programs, initiatives, and engagements in response to the most challenging migration crisis in more than a decade.
OAQ Detention Compliance and Removal Team
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Washington, D.C.
William Quigley
Shannon Ely
William Fuller
Aprell Joyce
Ben Shih
Broderick Morris
To the ICE team of Acquisition Managers for awarding more than 2,300 contract actions and obligating more than $2.1B from June 2018–May 2019.
Operation Corregidor Team
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Portland, Maine
Douglas M. McDonnell
Christopher A. Fitzpatrick
Martin J. Conley
John W. Clifton
Brendan O’Rourke
Jim S. Anglemyer
For Operation Corregidor’s investigative efforts to halt the production and distribution of child sexual exploitation through live streaming webcam shows for paying international customers, leading to the rescue of 114 children, 47 arrests, 17 convictions resulting in a life sentence and the dismantlement of child sex trafficking operations internationally.
System of Systems Operational Analytics Team
Science and Technology Directorate
Washington, D.C.
Lorraine Castillo
Carlos Lizardi
Damian Garcia
Michael Hieb
John Dargan
For outstanding work to leverage analytic expertise across DHS organizations to benefit Department operational effectiveness and efficiency to solve operational problems using advanced data analytics.
Jonathan Homer
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Arlington, Virginia
For outstanding service, collaboration, leadership, vision and technical competency, serving as a DHS “go to” speaker for high-profile public events in the U.S. and internationally.
Robert Chris Brown
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Arlington, Virginia
For outstanding adaptation and expertise in a detailed response plan, enabling CISA to more fully understand and respond to serious cyber threats to America’s resiliency.
Todd Klessman
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Arlington, Virginia
For instrumental role in supporting of the Secretary on the Federal Commission for School Safety, serving to help with physical security in school buildings, active shooter mitigation best practices, and school-based threat assessments.
Amy L. Cutting
United States Coast Guard
New London, Connecticut
For skillful management of an inter-agency team to develop and deploy a Counter Unmanned Aircraft System, the first effective and user-friendly system to detect, identify and defeat illicit unmanned aircraft systems from a moving maritime platform.
Thomas G. Kai
United States Coast Guard
Baltimore, Maryland
For outstanding service in profoundly improving timely and cost-effective mission support to the Coast Guard’s patrol boat fleet—bolstering drug interdiction, search and rescue, defense readiness and port security operations throughout the nation.
Georgi Bunting
United States Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
For leading, developing and managing the USSS Office of Strategic Planning and Policy, and establishing an enterprise governance board, resulting in significant agency transformational change.
Rodney T. Jones
United States Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
For innovation in development, deployment and training of iTAK providing real-time location of individual personnel and team assets, resulting in officer/agent safety and target acquisition/shared intelligence, improved mission readiness and enhanced inter-agency capability and partnership.
Suicide Education and Awareness Training Working Group
United States Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
Keir E. Maxwell
Michael E. Ball
Emily S. Patten
Thomas M. Christopher
Kathleen M. Tozier
Shawn L. Holtzclaw
Stephanie A. Semadeni
Shawn C. Scott
John L. Petry
Leslie S. Byrd
Mark F. Arbeen
Jessie L. Lane
Andrew C. Murphy
Lois J. Blevins
Christopher T. Fagan
Kelly A. Tudja
Alfonso M. Dyson
Joseph C. Robertson
Charlotte S. Boggess
Julie A. Ferrell
Andrea J. Fata
Joseph R. Jasso
For developing the Suicide Education and Awareness Training, a robust suicide prevention training program in response to the yearly suicide death rate facing the USSS, which serves as a force multiplier by empowering employees to become active participants in suicide prevention.
Allison S. Carlock
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Washington, D.C.
For innovation in developing “Prepare with Pedro” a low-cost card game which teaches children simple steps to stay safe during emergencies and is in extreme demand nationally, assisting FEMA’s goal to build a culture of preparedness to help people before, during and after disasters.
Wilhelminia W. Surles
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Washington, D.C.
For superb leadership, professionalism, customer service, and strategic management of nationwide operations, disposing of over 5,000 excess manufactured homes and recreational vehicles, resulting in a return of $60M to the Government.
Joseph Sobkowski
Transportation Security Administration
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
For assuming the role of Training Manager and delivering TSA Phase 1 New Hire training during the Government shutdown this year, ensuring that necessary training was completed.
National Threat Assessment Center Team
United States Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
Lina Alathari
Diana Drysdale
Steven Driscoll
Ashley Blair
Jeffrey McGarry
Arna Carlock
John Bullwinkel
For providing operation strategies and vital research in support of the USSS’ investigative and protection mission, including publications such as “An Operational Guide to Preventing Targeted School Violence” and conducting over 200 training seminars to 10,000 people providing information on the behaviors, motives and triggers of individuals who engage in school and workplace violence, terrorism and attacks on government agencies.
Air and Marine Operations Coordination Team
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Tucson, Arizona
Jeffrey W. Davies
Anthony A. Williams
Kevin R. Krogh
Eric D. Terry
Kimberly M. Ramsey
Robert B. Burke
Joseph W. Lang
Elizabeth M. Ebisuzaki
Stephen M. Hulin
Darryl A. Hooks
Brian Daw
Som F. Soukhome
Daylon J. Bakken
Debora D. Hall
For outstanding service and coordination in support of the Emergency Operations Center in San Diego, California, for continuous deployment of personnel and assets to affected areas, with total flight support of this crisis consisting of 862 flights and 2,611 flight hours.
Usud Syed
Transportation Security Administration
Herndon, Virginia
For identifying a critical security gap related to airline insider threat vulnerabilities, and developing a process by which TSA could identify when KSTs utilize buddy passes.
Keesha Walker
Transportation Security Administration
Arlington, Virginia
For outstanding service in redesigning the process to concisely track and monitor financial records for outstanding advances, resulting in almost 100 aged advance transactions totaling approximately $60M to be cleared and certified in monthly financial reports.
Region IX Emergency Operations Center
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Washington, D.C.
Bonnie J. Arellano
Johnny L. Armijo
Roy M. Browning
Hunter N. Davis
Christopher M. DeFreitas
Pete R. Flores
Robert W. Hood
Petra Horne
Ryan M. Koseor
Erick S. Reese
Michael B. Sullivan
For outstanding service and collaboration in addressing and mitigating a substantial security threat by the mass migrant caravan from Central America to the Tijuana Baja California area, while enabling legitimate trade and travel.
LAX Federal Air Marshal Team
Transportation Security Administration
Los Angeles, California
Billy L. Moffett
Kenneth W. Stephenson
Jimmy A. Fong
Jeffrey A. Bolanowski
For effectively restraining the passenger who attacked a flight attendant in-flight, culminating in the first federal prosecution and subsequent trial by jury, leading to the felony conviction of the assailant.
Organizational Restructuring and Efficiency Initiative Team
Transportation Security Administration
Arlington, Virginia
Rana Khan
Jon Kessmeier
Tom Regan
Kimberly Rhodes
Chris Smith
Bruce Thomas
For successful implementation of a new mission support model, reducing staff levels by 18 percent, and involving significant contributions of personnel across TSA, providing the best level of security possible for the traveling public.
Alexander Eastman
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office
Washington, D.C.
For outstanding service in working to support CBP Border Patrol in the crisis along the Southwest Border, providing and coordinating on-the-ground capability and oversight for all medical screening and health support operations.
Chemical Defense Team
Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office
Washington, D.C.
Mark A. Kirk
Dev D. Jani
Mark E. Sutter
Gregory Williams
Paula Murrain-Hill
Jeffrey Elders
City of New Orleans
Michael Mastrangelo
University of Texas
Jerry Fontaine
City of Boston
Charles McKay
American College of Medical Toxicology
For exemplifying excellence in leadership, service and agility to address emerging threats requiring urgent attention, and to better prepare and protect the U.S. homeland.