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KAFB honors first recipients

  • Published
  • By John Cochran
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AFB, N.M. --  The commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center inducted the inaugural class of eight "Order of the Nucleus" recipients Sept. 29 at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque.

"These patriotic Americans are supporting and have supported the nuclear enterprise with great distinction. Recognizing these outstanding contributors in this way is a small token of our esteem for all they have done to maintain a strong nuclear deterrent that has guaranteed our liberty for generations. All of you here support or work for the nuclear enterprise directly. You have significantly enhanced our mission and continue to do what our president told us to do ... 'Provide a safe, secure and effective deterrent for us and for our allies,'" Brig. Gen. Garrett Harencak said at the event.

Brief profiles of each honoree appear below.

Michael Martinez is the AFNWC Director of Intelligence & Requirements. Martinez has nearly 25 years of acquisition-related experience working for the Air Force, including operational and weapon system integration and acquisition work with B-52H, C-130E, C-141B, C-17A, FB-111 and F-15E aircraft, and on integration of weapon systems on F-16 and B-2A aircraft and Peacekeeper, Minuteman III and Trident missile systems.

Veronica L. Mather has devoted the last 25 years to service in the Department of Defense. In 2006, Ronnie became the secretary to the commander of the AFNWC, and through her steadfast and diligent efforts in support of the commander and staff, has been vital to the Center reaching full operational capability in January 2011.

Senior Master Sgt. Daniel S. Willand is the Superintendent of Missile Maintenance for the AFNWC. With the transfer of cruise missile sustainment to the AFNWC, Sgt. Willand assumed his current duties at Kirtland AFB, where he's continued to provide great contributions to the enterprise. His recent accomplishments include leading maintenance actions for 521 air-launched cruise missiles valued at $1.4 billion while maintaining an Air Force-leading 90 percent in-commission rate.

Leon Smith began his service in the nuclear enterprise at the dawn of America's atomic age. As an Army Air Corps first lieutenant, Smith served as a weaponeer in the ordnance squadron of the 509th Composite Group, which dropped the atomic bombs that effectively ended the World War II. In the decades that followed, Smith has led numerous revolutionary developments in weapons technology, including work on components, such as the permissive action link, that continue to play a major part in our national commitment to nuclear weapons safety, security and use control.

Harold J. Camacho Jr. is the chief of the Education & Training Section for the 498th Nuclear Systems Wing. Camacho served 28 years as an active-duty Air Force officer in the nuclear enterprise, with more than 10 years of certified missile combat crew duty, including command of a strategic missile squadron. As the past Air Force Nuclear Certification Program Manager and current director for Air Force Materiel Command's Nuclear College, education programs such as the Air Force Nuclear Management Fundamentals course, initiated and conducted under his guidance and direction, have reached more than 3,700 Airmen across the Air Force.

From the moment the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force directed a dramatic enhancement of the AFNWC in 2009, the New Mexico Air National Guard has played a vital role in swiftly enabling the Center's initial operating capability later that year. New Mexico Air National Guardsmen joined directly into the fray to bridge the Center's manpower and experience gap and help it grow toward full operational capability in January 2011.

Brig. Gen. John F. Thompson was recently reassigned as Deputy Director, Joint Strike Fighter Program, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. General Thompson was most recently the first-ever Air Force Program Executive Officer for Strategic Systems. Through his direct oversight and leadership in that role, the nuclear force entered a long-overdue period of increased modernization worth billions of dollars and involving dozens of vital programs spanning the Air Force's entire nuclear portfolio.

Brig. Gen. Everett H. Thomas, the most recent past commander of the AFNWC, is now the vice commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. He assists in organizing, training, equipping and maintaining the nation's Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, B-2 and B-52 aircraft. General Thomas has held command at multiple levels in the nuclear enterprise, including a missile operations group and a space wing.

As commander of the AFNWC, General Thomas acted on Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force directives that made reinvigorating and strengthening the nuclear enterprise the service's top priority. General Thomas drove a 30-fold expansion of the staff, declared the Center's initial operating capability in November 2009 and achieved full operating capability in January 2011.