Eastern Air Defense Sector Civilians Win Prestigious National Guard Bureau Awards Published Dec. 3, 2015 By Tim Jones Eastern Air Defense Sector Public Affairs ROME NY -- Two civilian employees assigned to the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) recently received cyberspace operations awards from the National Guard Bureau's Command, Control, Communications and Computer Systems directorate. Sonepith Keoviengsamay, a cybersecurity systems analyst, won the Gen. John P. Jumper Award for excellence in warfighting integration in the civilian category. Keoviengsamy, a resident of Rome, has worked at EADS for five years. Joe Puccio, an information assurance and software manager, was named the ANG's Information Dominance Program's Outstanding Civilian in the GS 9-11 pay grades. Puccio, who also lives in Rome, has worked at EADS for four years. "Being acknowledged as the best in your field in an organization as large as the Air National Guard is a remarkable accomplishment," said Col. Michael J. Norton, the commander of EADS. "These awards recognize the impressive but often unnoticed work that Mr. Keoviengsamay and Mr. Puccio perform daily to help protect our cyber network and communications systems, which play a critical role in everything we do here at EADS." Keoviengsamay and Puccio will now go on to the U.S. Air Force's Air Combat Command cyberspace competition. The Eastern Air Defense Sector is a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) headquarters unit located at Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome. Responsible for the air defense of the eastern United States, EADS is composed of New York Air National Guardsmen from the 224th Air Defense Group, a Canadian Forces detachment, Army, Navy and Coast Guard liaison officers, and federal civilians.