Sgt. Gregory Rios, who works at McAfee U.S. Army Health Clinic is WSMR's Army Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, and Army Spc. Ernesto Martinez was chosen as Soldier of the Year.
Rios is the Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of the Medical Records Section at McAfee. He also serves as the Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of WSMR's Tri-Service Color Guard. Rios has been in the Army since graduating from DeSoto (Texas) High School in 2003.
Martinez, from Albuquerque, has been in the Army since July 2001. He works in WSMR's Occupational Health Clinic, where his duties include ambulance operations, patient care and equipment maintenance. In any given week, Martinez is typically involved in the care and evaluation of 25 patients or more.
Martinez has served two tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom, from January 2003 through September 2003, and from January 2005 through December 2005.
Navy award winners include Information Systems Technician 1 Gene Autry Harrell III, who has served at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division White Sands Detachment since January 2008. WSMR's Sailor of the Year is Gunner's Mate 2 Cameron Blake Fitzgerald, who has been at the Naval Surface Warfare Center since October 2006.
Fitzgerald
also served a one-year deployment in Iraq, from January 2007 until January 2008. While in Iraq, Fitzgerald was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal. He retired from the Navy in June and is now attending college in Wyoming.
Staff Sgt. James Zobel is WSMR's Air Force Noncommissioned Officer of the Year, and Technical Sgt. Bryantjay Toves is Airman of the Year.
Zobel has been in the Air Force since August 2004, and his duty assignments have been at Ramstein Air Base in Kaiserslautern, Germany; WSMR; and Joint Base Balad, in Iraq.
Zobel's awards and decorations include the Air Force Achievement Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device and one Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short Tour, Air Force Overseas Long Tour, Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border, Air Force Longevity Service, U.S. Air Force Noncommissioned Officer Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon, and the Air Force Training Ribbon.
Toves has been in the Air Force since July 1998, with duty assignments, including Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base, Incirlick Air Base in Turkey, WSMR, and Al Udeid in Qatar. Toves is the Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of Standardization and Evaluation, and Watch Supervisor, at WSMR's Radar Facility.
Toves' awards and decorations include Air Force Commendation Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Good Conduct Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short, Air Force Longevity Service, Air Force Noncommissioned Officer Graduate Ribbon with Oak Leaf Cluster, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, and the Air Force Training Ribbon.
And the winners are ...
-- WSMR Soldier of the Year: Spc. Ernesto Martinez of Albuquerque
-- Army Noncommissioned Officer of the Year: Sgt. Gregory Rios of Laredo, Texas
-- Air Force Noncommissioned Officer of the Year: Staff Sgt. James Zobel of Rochester, N.Y.
-- Airman of the Year: Technical Sgt. Bryantjay Toves of Tumuning, Guam
-- Navy Noncommissioned Officer of the Year: Information Systems Technician 1 Gene Autry Harrell III of Houston, Texas
-- Sailor of the Year: Gunner's Mate 2 Cameron Blake Fitzgerald of Madras, Ore.
To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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