MDAA Alert
Indo-Pacific Excellence
April 20, 2021
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Bringing forward honor to the 2020 Indo-Pacific Air & Missile Defenders of the Year, from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, April 15th, 2021. |
Dear Members and Friends,
“The Indo-Pacific is the single most consequential region for America's future. It is the United States priority theater as clearly highlighted by the National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. Our INDOPACOM forces operate throughout the region to deter aggression, ensure freedom of navigation, provide access to global markets and promote regional stability, mutual security, and economic prosperity.” -- Lt. Gen Mike Milihan, Deputy Commander at USINDOPACOM, on April 15, 2021.
Last week, on April 15, we held a live, in-person award ceremony to honor our 2020 Indo-Pacific Air and Missile Defenders of the Year at the very heart of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Five leaders of excellence from four military services were honored, to include a guardian from the Space Force, for their exemplary service. These four military services are cornerstone pillars of operational missile defense in the Indo-Pacific. The joint group of five represented the missile-defense excellence of the United States, in the most challenging area of responsibility for the U.S. armed forces’ geographic combatant commands.
The 2020 Indo-Pacific Air and Missile Defender of the Year Awardees
U.S. Pacific Air Forces Awardee
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Captain Ryan Vath
613th Air Operations Center
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
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U.S. Pacific Fleet Awardee
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Lieutenant Simon Mansonhing
USS John Finn (DDG-113)
Naval Base San Diego, California
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U.S. Army Pacific Awardees
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Lieutenant Colonel William Hunter III
94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
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Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Finley
94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
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U.S. Space Force Awardee
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Technical Sergeant Jeremiah Tillery
613th Air Operations Command
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
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“These five represent that type of character and leadership. And you have to build on these pillars and you have to come together. It's about trust: that's the single biggest thing that we have to accomplish between each other. Because if you can trust each other, you communicate, you play for each other, and you win collectively against all resiliencies.” -- Riki Ellison; April, 15, 2021.
“The world is challenging. It's exciting because you've got a cauldron that's being built, and it's going to force you to become great. And the near-peer competitor of China is that cauldron competitor that's going to make us better than we are.” -- Riki Ellison; April, 15, 2021.
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Riki Ellison
Chairman and Founder
Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
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MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats. We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org for more information.
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Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
515 King Street, Suite 330
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone: (703) 299-0060
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