Guard NCO earns Air National Guard award

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Bob Oldham
  • 189th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
A 189th Civil Engineering Squadron NCO was named the Air National Guard's Civil Engineer Manager of the Year in the Reserve Component NCO category for fiscal year 2007. 

Tech. Sgt. Bill Catton, the unit's emergency management NCO in charge, earned the award based on his job performance and management ability, technical ability and his initiative and resourcefulness. 

Sergeant Catton "has established himself as the authority in emergency management operations at Little Rock Air Force Base," his commander wrote in the nomination package. 

He was requested by name to serve as a cadre advisor for the first ever total force training on sensitive site assessment and sensitive site exploitation. The course resulted in decisions that will establish what tactics, techniques and procedures will be used to train all Airmen - active Guard or Reserve - in the 3E9 Air Force specialty. 

He teamed with the 189th Airlift Wing's finance office to secure funding for a mobile emergency operations center. The funding helped equip the MEOC, and he initiated new standard operating procedures with the state's joint operations center at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. 

Because of his success in coordinating with the state JOC, the Air National Guard Readiness Center tasked him to draft requirements for communications equipment for all ANG MEOCs. 

He also earned certification as a National Incident Management System instructor. He's the only NIMS instructor on Little Rock Air Force Base, saving the base and Guard thousands of dollars by not having to rely on contract instructors to conduct training.