When her husband was stationed in Kodiak four years ago, Brandi L. Medrano worried her three active children would struggle with boredom. She quickly discovered that Base Kodiak’s Morale, Wellness and Recreation (MWR) program was up to the challenge.
“My oldest [child] joined the teen center and two younger kids played every sport that MWR offered,” Medrano said. “My supportive husband coached every season and I was the typical sport parent, bringing snacks and cheering from the sidelines. My family was so heavily involved in MWR programs that when the position of Youth Activities Director became available, I knew it would be the perfect fit.”
Medrano added a summer golf program and cheer team. She gave the club space a make-over. She launched a leadership club and Explore Kodiak, a summer exploration program that pairs adventurous outings with training in first aid, wilderness survival and bear safety.
Each year the Coast Guard recognizes a select few civilian and non-appropriated fund employees like Medrano for their outstanding service and dedication to the Coast Guard’s core values of honor, respect and devotion to duty.
Medrano and Ellyn D. Metcalf from the Coast Guard Academy were both named the Coast Guard’s 2019 Non-Appropriated Fund Employees of the Year.
The Coast Guard’s 2019 Civilian Employees of the Year are:
- Glen W. Maylone – Coast Guard Acquisitions
- Lamont C. McCloud – Coast Guard Yard
- Randall A. King – Coast Guard Base Portsmouth Industrial Production Facility
- William J. Sieben – Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Houma
- Audra L. Hearrell – FORCECOM
- Seth C. Crittenden – Coast Guard Yard
MyCG reached out to each of these outstanding civilians to learn more about their work.
Glen Maylone
Deputy Assistant Program Executive Officer, Coast Guard Acquisitions
Glen Maylone is responsible for the Coast Guard’s entire surface vessel acquisition portfolio, including all of the Coast Guard’s new boats and cutters. He presides over the largest surface vessel recapitalization effort in the Coast Guard since World War II. This acquisition portfolio includes $1.5 billion per year in new cutter and boat construction projects, as well as service life extensions and vessel renovation projects.
Randall King
Boat Builder, Coast Guard Base Portsmouth, Industrial Production Facility
Randall King independently leads and performs all phases of repairs, alterations, and modifications on the Coast Guard’s large small-boat fleet. King guided a composite team of boat builders to complete the Coast Guard Cutter Bear’s flight deck net replacement, which allowed completion of the assignment ahead of predicted timelines and resulted in over a $400 thousand dollar cost avoidance. He led his team to deliver the repair on a U.S. Army watercraft rescue boat ahead of schedule and under budget, cementing the relationship between the two services. King is commended for his outstanding leadership, superior technical skills, and steadfast devotion to Coast Guard readiness.
William Sieben
Marine Inspection Training Officer, Marine Safety Unit Houma
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is seeing apprentice marine inspectors (AMI’s) become proficient journeyman marine inspectors (JMI’s). My job is to train inspectors and I do this by consistently mentoring young JO’s [junior officers], CWO’s [chief warrant officers], and enlisted personnel to be future Coast Guard leaders advancing the marine safety mission. I am excited to come to work to train and share my knowledge with the AMI’s and to do my best to assist them getting transferred to their desired billets. I love what I do!”
Sieben is responsible for the training and development of future Coast Guard marine inspectors. He mentors, tracks progress, arranges training, qualification boards, and is the first line of encouragement as apprentice marine inspectors work through the tasks of learning the volumes of regulations necessary to become qualified and successful journeyman marine inspectors and advanced journeyman inspectors. For many years, he has set the standards for marine inspectors throughout the Coast Guard. Throughout his MITO tenure, Sieben has achieved a 98% success rate developing apprentice marine inspectors into journeyman marine inspectors and has issued 281 qualifications.
Lamont McCloud
Services Group General Foreman, Coast Guard Yard, Baltimore, MD
“When a cutter returns to its home port, the marine coating system is the first thing the crews see and it is outstanding,” McCloud said. “My employees do an outstanding job in hot or cold weather; we deliver a quality product on time and under budget.”
McCloud manages the paint shop, garage, and the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) lab. In 2019, he orchestrated more than 180,000 collective hours across 127 civilian employees, conducting major repairs to 27 cutters.
Audra Hearrell
Education Services Specialist, FORCECOM
“I love serving those who serve,” Hearrell said. “I was especially motivated by the fact that my work as an education services specialist allowed me to service all rates and ranks, from E-2 to O-6, and provided a great breadth and depth of mission awareness that most civilians wouldn’t see because my customers came from every aspect of the Coast Guard.“
Hearrell provides service-wide education support to all service members, military dependents, educational services officers, and Education and Training Quota Management Command (ETQC) Voluntary Education staff. Her superior performance, exceptional initiative, and expert analysis identified widespread Joint Service Transcript (JST) system glitches that prohibited the awarding of college credits earned by members for completed Coast Guard courses. She effectively collaborated with Navy counterparts to develop a corrective action plan. Her dedication and keen anticipation of customer needs ensured that affected transcripts were 100% error free and maximized the benefits obtained through the JST program – a service valued at over $375,000 in tuition costs.
Ellyn Metcalf
Associate Director, Coast Guard Academy
Metcalf’s vision, leadership, tireless effort and ability to enlist others resulted in the creation of the Coast Guard Academy Leader Development Program. She guided five inquiry teams of more than 30 volunteer staffs and faculty through a journey of cultural transformational inquiry and change, engaged a DHS and Coast Guard senior executive advisory board, executed a U.S. Coast Guard Academy Diversity & Inclusion strategic planning process, and advised the Academy’s senior leadership team Board of Trustees, the Commandant and his staffs, and Congressional members and their staffs. Metcalf is also associate director of the Loy Institute for Leadership and co-chair for the Academy’s Equity Task Force.
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