Defense recognizes contributions of disabled employees

The Defense Department recognized 16 disabled employees Tuesday at an awards ceremony held to celebrate the contributions of disabled workers in federal service.

"I'd like to take the chance to describe to you what I think of the word hero," said Army Maj. Daniel Gade, the ceremony's keynote speaker. "Those of you with disabilities who are working despite your disabilities and the employers who empower those workers are my heroes today, and I applaud them."

Gade was commanding an armored unit in the Ramadi district of Iraq in early 2005 when an improvised explosive device exploded near his Humvee. He was evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where his right leg was amputated at the hip. He now works as the associate director for domestic policy at the White House, where he is responsible for disability and health care issues, as well as matters relating to active-duty military personnel and veterans.

The winners came from various Defense components nationwide and were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the department, despite having mental and physical disabilities. One percent of the department's civilian workforce is disabled.

"It is our goal for those living with severe disabilities targeted in affirmative action programs to make up 2 percent of our employees," said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Steven Clark, who lost his right arm while serving as an Army sergeant in Iraq, was honored for his service to the Pentagon's Military Severely Injured Center while Rocco Arizzi, who was born with spinal muscular atrophy and uses a wheelchair, was cited for his contributions to electrical engineering at the Naval Service Warfare Center in Bethesda, Md.

Other winners include Bruce Beyer of the Army; Maria Antrade of McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kan.; Constance Gardner of the Defense Logistics Agency; Anthony Green of the Defense Commissary Agency; Ronald Greenfield of the Air Force; Michael Herron of the National Guard Bureau; Joseph Higginbotham of the Defense Contract Management Agency; Linda Keel of the Defense Intelligence Agency; John Loftis of the National Security Agency; Michael Morgan of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Kimberly Pare of the Defense Information Systems Agency; Jennifer Perry of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency; Nicole Richards of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service; and Kane Urban of the Defense Contract Audit Agency.

The winners have disabilities ranging from cerebral palsy to muscular dystrophy, dwarfism to deafness, and arm and leg amputations to paralysis.

The department also presented trophies to three component agencies for their achievements in employing people with disabilities. The Air Force won for best military department; the Defense Logistics Agency won for best mid-size component; and the Office of the Secretary of Defense-Washington Headquarters Services won the award for best small component.

Susan Roberts, executive director for case management line of action at the Navy, gave a presentation highlighting the department's plans to further accommodate employees with disabilities, especially veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Service members will go back into the communities and reintegrate," Roberts said. "Some will want federal jobs and some won't, but we need the help of those of you in the community who have government jobs and have disabilities."

Roberts said Defense has established eight lines of action to help service members with disabilities. Those include accommodating traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, data-sharing of medical and employment records, improving medical treatment facilities, and making sure pay and benefits are sufficient to members who must undergo continual care.

Dinah Cohen, director of the computer/electronic accommodations program at Defense, said the department filled 8,777 requests for assistive technology in fiscal 2007, of which one-third was processed for wounded service members.

The accommodations program has launched a campaign called From Deployment to Employment, which educates wounded service members about assistive technology and assures them that they can continue in military service or federal employment despite their disability.

"We use assistive technology as part of the recovery phase," Cohen said. "We have a strong need to make sure we're doing our job well and that we're lean and mean to make sure [service members] have what they need when they need it."