Missile Defender of the Year Award Ceremonies

January 14, 2011 marked the inaugural Defender of the Year Award Ceremony, recognizing and honoring members of the military who command fully operational and deployed missile defense systems. These events are held around the world and have recognized and honored missile defenders from 18 different countries.

U.S. Missile Defender of the Year Award Ceremonies

The Missile Defender of the Year is awarded to the best U.S. missile defense Solider, Sailor, Airmen, National Guardsmen, and Guardian for the year

	ARMY	AIR FORCE	NAVY	NATIONAL GUARD
2010	1LT Ted M. Kimmey Jr.	1st Lt Brian K. Yoakam	FC1 Shawn Andre Walker	MAJ Michael A. Tobe
2011	CPT Will Andrews		FC2 Mathieu McIntosh	SSG Craig Davis
2012	CPT Kyle Kirkpatrick	Capt Gregory Tengco	FC2 Ronald Barbee	SGT Aric Wilkins
2013	SSG Nancy A. Wingo	Capt Benjamin C. Szutar	LT Brandon Bridges	SSG Nicholas W. Power
2014	SSG Michael Sean McSherry	Lt Col Jerry Frazier	FC2 Bartholomew Ringer	SSG Norman D. Perkins III
2015	CPT Jason Roberts	Maj Michael D. Sward	FC1 Elizabeth J. Clark	SSG Trampas J. Vojtasek
2016	CW2 Kevin M. Kruthers	Lt Col Anthony J. Owens	PO1 Nathaniel Lynch	SSG Caroline Domenech
2017	1LT Benjamin Schiff	Lt Col Rocco Angiolelli	CPO Zachary Quirk	CPT Jason Brewer
2018	CW3 Lucas Watterson	Capt Rex Villa	LTJG McKenzie Anderson	CW4 Jacob Moore
2019	CPT Cody Williams	Capt Nolan Hebein	FCA1 Mario Amaro	CPT Eric Grant

	ARMY	AIR FORCE	NAVY	NATIONAL GUARD	SPACE FORCE
2020	SFC Johnny Washington	Capt Marco Catanese	FCA1 John Long	SGM Jason Junkins	1st Lt Eryn Daman (Space Operations Command)
2021	SFC Matthew Crain	Maj Robert Heath Matthews	LT Kristen Ringwall	CW2 Jeremy Howard	TSgt X. Victor Kearney
2022	1SG John O’Connor	A1C Garrett Tully	LT Pasquale Cassese	SFC Patrick Sharp	Spc4 Jonah Friese
2023	CPT Zachary Buenger	SSgt John Brannon	LCDR Rebekah Fleming	MAJ Robert Sheehan	Sgt Matthew Critchley

Regional Defenders of the Year

NORAD & USNORTHCOM Missile Warning and Defender of the Year

The award ceremony honors the best excellence of leadership within NORAD and USNORTHCOM, both military and civilian, for missile warning and missile defense.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
October 13, 2023	Colorado Springs, Colorado	14
May 13, 2022	Colorado Springs, Colorado	10
December 18, 2020	Virtual	15
June 7, 2019	Colorado Springs, Colorado	22
June 1, 2018	Colorado Springs, Colorado	16
June 2, 2017	Colorado Springs, Colorado	6
June 3, 2016	Colorado Springs, Colorado	6
May 29, 2015	Colorado Springs, Colorado	4
May 22, 2014	Colorado Springs, Colorado	3
May 3, 2013	Colorado Springs, Colorado	4

Peninsula Defenders of the Year

Bringing together the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) and the United States (U.S.) to honor and recognize each country’s best missile defense crews

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
November 21, 2019	Seoul, Korea	35
November 16, 2018	Seoul, Korea	35
November 29, 2017	Seoul, Korea	41
November 18, 2016	Seoul, Korea	22
November 20, 2015	Seoul, Korea	24
November 21, 2014	Seoul, Korea	14
November 2013	Seoul, Korea	13
November 2012	Seoul, Korea	10

Alaska Missile Defender of the Year

Honoring those members of the Alaska Army and Air National Guard who operate the U.S. Ground Based Midcourse System.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
November 5, 2022	Anchorage, Alaska	23
September 26, 2020	Virtual	18
May 18, 2019	Anchorage, Alaska	15
May 19, 2018	Anchorage, Alaska	13
May 6, 2017	Anchorage, Alaska	11
May 21, 2016	Anchorage, Alaska	12
May 16, 2015	Anchorage, Alaska	10
May 10, 2014	Anchorage, Alaska	8

European Missile Defender of the Year

The award is given to North Atlantic Treaty Organization service members that have made significant contributions to missile defense over the past year. The six selected individuals come from four NATO countries and represent the best in leadership and personal effort, demonstrating their commitment to excellence and their critical role in missile defense in the protection of Europe.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
May 9, 2024	Warsaw, Poland	12
February 10, 2023	Breda, Netherlands	8
October 27, 2018	Berlin, Germany	10
April 8, 2017	Cologne, Germany	8
April 29, 2016	Ramstein, Germany	10
April 17, 2015	Kaiserslautern, Germany	6
April 4, 2014	Kaiserslautern, Germany	6

Gulf Cooperation Council Air and Missile Defender of the Year

The event recognized the excellence of the air and missile defenders protecting the United Arab Emirates, and the outstanding team effort between the two nations. This effort spans the reach of the UAE and U.S. military services on land, sea and air, right down to the leadership and the individual airmen, soldiers and sailors who defend the United Arab Emirates.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
September 27, 2018	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	10
September 28, 2017	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	6
August 8, 2016	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	8
October 15, 2014	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	17

Okinawa Missile Defender of the Year

Honoring missile defense forces from Japan and the United States of America at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
November 18, 2019	Okinawa, Japan	44
November 30, 2018	Okinawa, Japan	32
December 1, 2017	Okinawa, Japan	31
November 22, 2016	Okinawa, Japan	34
November 24, 2015	Okinawa, Japan	24
November 25, 2014	Kadena Air Base	18
November 2013	Kadena Air Base	10

Indo- Pacific Air and Missile Defender of the Year

This award honors the best U.S. war fighters contributing to the integrated air and missile defense network throughout the Pacific theater.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
August 3, 2023	Honolulu, Hawaii	10
August 5, 2022	Honolulu, Hawaii	12
April 15, 2021	Honolulu, Hawaii – Virtual	5
September 26, 2015	Honolulu, Hawaii	10

Japan Missile Defender of the Year

The award is given to members of the missile defense community in Japan, which consists of Japan’s Air Force and four participating U.S. military services.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
February 9, 2017	Tokyo, Japan	9
November 18, 2015	Yokota Air Force Base, Japan	10

Guam Missile Defender of the Year

This award recognizes the missile defenders located in the American territory of Guam, where the U.S. Army’s Task Force Talon of the 94th AAMDC deploys the THAAD battery site.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
October 28, 2021	Andersen AFB, Guam	10
November 25, 2019	THAAD Site Armadillo, Guam	10
December 4, 2018	THAAD Site Armadillo, Guam	18
December 6, 2017	THAAD Site Armadillo, Guam	8
November 16, 2016	THAAD Site Armadillo, Guam	7
November 27, 2015	THAAD Site Armadillo, Guam	7

Texas Missile Defender of the Year

This award honors the best missile defenders of the year from the state of Texas, which is home to the world’s largest Air Defense Brigade, the 11th Imperial Brigade out of Fort Bliss, Texas and also the 69th Army Air Defense Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
Saturday, March 25, 2017	Austin, Texas	11

Dutch Missile Defender of the Year

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
Tuesday, May 16, 2017	Soest, Netherlands	3

National Capital Region Air & Missile Defender of the Year

Date	Location	Number of Awardees
Friday, May 31, 2024	Joint Base Andrews, MD	20
Wednesday, March 30, 2022	Alexandria, Virginia	19
Friday, October 18, 2019	Alexandria, Virginia	7

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