CID Sailor Receives Top Honors for 2009 CFC Fundraising Efforts

May 20, 2010 - PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- A Sailor from Center for Information Dominance (CID) is one of 10 people nationwide to be selected as a Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Hero for the 2009 campaign.

Chief Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Miller will be honored June 28 at the Eisenhower Executive Building in Washington, D.C.

Annually, thousands of dedicated federal employee's help their area campaigns with what is known as the world's largest workplace campaign, raising thousands of dollars for non-profits locally, nationally and internationally.

Miller was assigned as the activity chairperson (AC) for the Center for Information Dominance (CID) Corry Station in Pensacola, Fla., during the 2009 campaign.

CID is directly responsible for more than 1,300 of the 19,000 federal employees within the Escambia and Santa Rosa (EscaRosa) Counties of Florida. The EscaRosa Campaign heavily relies on CID as one of the three largest military training schools in the area.

Miller's most challenging effort during the campaign was educating new Sailors and Soldiers, who are typically reporting directly to the schoolhouse after basic training and who have little exposure to the importance of charitable support.

"Our staff and students are quite extraordinary," CID Commanding Officer Capt. Gary Edwards said. "Most of them volunteered to serve their country during a time of war. And, if that wasn't enough of a sacrifice, they are now giving up part of their paycheck to help support charitable organizations through CFC. I am constantly amazed by their selflessness."

Miller was responsible for recruiting, screening and training volunteers to act as key people (KP) during the campaign.

"We planned for success from top down. We selected the right key people and ensured they believed in and understood the campaign," Miller said. "We educated everyone within the command daily and demonstrated our support in everything we did. Through command support, our people saw that CFC was not just another ask, it was a passionate responsibility.""

"Miller hand-selected five of the most professional, motivated and creative KPs that we have ever seen," EscaRosa CFC Director Ron Denson said.

Miller and his KPs planned weekly events, creating constant awareness of the campaign starting from day one to the end of the campaign. He coordinated an agency presentation opportunity for his people and invited other commands from the base to participate.

"When I first met Chief Miller I knew he was the right person for the job," Denson said. "He asked the questions to understand what his roles and expectations were. He quickly realized that it is not about getting donors to contribute large amounts of money, it is simply to educate them about the CFC program and ask them to participate to whatever level they can afford." Military and civilian employees of CID surpassed their goal of $38,000 in the first two days of the drive. However, Miller and his staff did not stop their efforts. They moved the bar up and set a new goal to surpass that which was only seen immediately after 9/11.

In total, CID raised $82,074.66, reaching 216 percent of their intended goal. CID increased participation to more than 50 percent of the command's personnel.

Most of the command is made up of junior enlisted personnel and it was important to CID that Miller and his staff did not encourage contributions which would result in a service member's financial hardship. He educated CID personnel about the integrity of the CFC program and the importance of participating and donating to a cause.

Naval Education Training Command Chief of Staff Capt. Markus Hannan also serves as the EscaRosa Local Federal Coordinating Committee (LFCC) chairperson. He had high praise for Miller and his crew from CID.

"Given the state of the economy, CTTC Miller's efforts are that much more extraordinary and appreciated," Hannan said.

Miller's efforts were not only applauded locally. They were also noted by the Office of Personnel Management, Washington, D.C., Department of the Combined Federal Campaign, which lead to his selection as a CFC Hero for 2009.

With a staff of more than 700 military, civilian and contracted staff members, CID Corry Station oversees the development and administration of more than 225 courses at 17 learning sites throughout the United States and in Japan. CID Corry Station provides training for more than 16,000 members of the United States Armed Services and allied forces each year.