7th Comm Marines receive Copernicus Award
Sgt. C. Nuntavong

CAMP HANSEN (Feb 10, 2006) -- Two Marines with 7th Communications Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force, received the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association and U.S. Naval Institute Copernicus Award Jan. 10 at the AFCEA West Conference in San Diego.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Childs and Gunnery Sgt. Eulalio Ruiz III are two of 29 Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard service members and military/government civil service personnel who were selected for the 2005 Copernicus Award.

The Copernicus Awards are presented annually for individual contributions to Naval warfare in the disciplines of information systems and information warfare.

During Operation Unified Assistance in Utapao, Thailand, in Jan. 2005, Childs helped the U.S. Air Force weave its transmission systems with lightweight multi-band satellite terminals, thereby providing a command, control, communications, computer and intelligence architecture.

He also enabled information sharing between the Combined Support Forces 536 commander and President George W. Bush through video teleconferencing.

"There is no way to measure the work that we did (during OUA)," Childs said. "We were there to help countries in need of food, shelter and medical support. (The service members with CSF-536) showed that they could rise to the occasion and help countries in need."

During Reception, Staging, Onward Movement, and Integration '05, and Ulchi Focus Lens '05, Childs integrated the Korean spider switch with the U.S. voice architecture, also known as the Defense Switch Network, creating bilateral communications for the first time in combined operations with Korea.

Meanwhile, Ruiz drafted and executed the deployed command and control (C2) concept in the Battle Staff Training Facility to support the III Marine Expeditionary Force's strategic plan. The plan is the roadmap for III MEF's establishment of C2 and information superiority in support of the Marine Corps' expeditionary maneuver warfare concept. Additionally, with less then 24 hours notice, he rapidly deployed a strategic data node from Okinawa to Utapao in support of OUA.

"Gunnery Sgt. Ruiz and I would have never received these awards without the hard work of the junior Marines," Childs said.

Ellie