Retiree News

Off the Hawaii Air National Guard Facebook page

Congratulations to the top-performing Airmen from the 292nd Combat Communications Squadron, who are recipients of the 2021 Information Dominance Awards!

Senior Airman Edilito Ranchez took home the AF Outstanding Cyber Systems Airman Award at the National Guard Bureau level. Additionally, Tech. Sgt. Christopher Brun was selected to receive the AF Outstanding Cyber Systems NCO Award at 254th Combat Communications Group level.

Both Airmen were distinguished amongst their peers for overwhelming achievements that directly impacted their organization, community and several national initiatives over this past year.

“I am regularly impressed by these two Airmen,” said Lt. Col. Todd Curtright. “Tech. Sgt. Brun just returned from a lengthy TDY to Italy, where he supported some of our most important allies in NATO, including Polish service members, during a personnel recovery exercise. Newly promoted Senior Airman Ranchez came off active orders doing great work for the County of Maui as a contact tracer with the joint task force to join the European Deterrence Initiative, where he also supported our NATO allies, bolstering the security and capacity of our partners.”

Ranchez helped support the state’s COVID-19 relief efforts and coordinated lifesaving contact tracing data for thousands of commuters throughout the Hawaiian Islands, and helped with the distribution effort of personal protective equipment. He also played a role in the Air Force’s largest airlift mission of evacuating 74 thousand Afghan evacuees. In addition, Ranchez helped provide for the care of more than 50 unaccompanied minors, providing much-needed relief during a dire situation. 

As a client systems specialist, Ranchez’s expertise is critical to virtually all ANG functions, as he provides support for information technology used to carry out the mission daily. 

“I was not expecting to win at the Air National Guard level,” said Ranchez, “this was only possible with all the support of my peers and proper training from my supervisor.”

Brun is a cyber transport systems specialist and has worked full-time in the 292nd CBCS for most of his military career. Since joining the HIANG in 2013, Brun has applied his skills toward a job in a local university and has shared his expertise with apprentice Airmen. 

“It was an honor to get put in for the award,” said Brun, “as we work hard every day and knowing that it gets noticed, it’s surprising to hear that I won at the level that I won at the group level.”

He has served in a deployed environment and has enhanced the security of network systems with his robust set of cyber competencies. 

“Having them recognized at this level is a wonderful validation of the amazing things they do every time they put on the uniform,” said Curtright. “I’m very thankful to their supervisors for putting such strong packages together.”

---

The appearance of external hyperlinks did not constitute endorsement by Retiree News, this included the linked websites, information, products, or services contained therein. Retiree News did not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Additionally, some of the sites linked to may limit the number of stories you can access without a paid subscription. All links were provided with the intent of meeting the mission of Retiree News.