The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association recently awarded Sgt. Daniel Cariveau, 53rd Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Satellite Operations (SATOPS) Brigade, the U.S. Army Enlisted Leadership Award for significant contribution to the warfighter through information technology. (Courtesy photo by Sgt. Daniel Cariveau/RELEASED)
The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association recently awarded Sgt. Daniel Cariveau, 53rd Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Satellite Operations (SATOPS) Brigade, the U.S. Army Enlisted Leadership Award for significant contribution to the warfighter through information technology. (Courtesy photo by Sgt. Daniel Cariveau/RELEASED) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT MEADE, Maryland - Sergeant Daniel Cariveau, Bravo Company, 53rd Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Satellite Operations Brigade, recently won the 14th annual Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association U.S. Army Enlisted Leadership Award for significant contribution to the warfighter through information technology.

“Sergeant Cariveau exhibited an extraordinary and dynamic impact on the ability to provide wideband satellite payload control and defensive space control through his proficiency in information technologies, software development, and database design,” said Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the commander of the Joint Force Headquarters- Department of Defense Information Network at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.

“He has built two highly robust databases that directly support the U.S. Army’s mission to facilitate Satellite Network Control.”

Cariveau, a satellite communications systems crew chief stationed in a Wideband Satellite Communications Operations Center at Fort Meade, began writing software six years ago to improve overall WSOC operations.

“I made the position of a satellite network manager more intuitive, more efficient, and more organized,” said the 25-year-old Cariveau from Hesperia, California. “It feels great to be recognized for this. It’s been something I have been working on for a long time now, and to know that people really appreciate what I have done makes it all worth it.”

The program, titled Skyforge, takes critical information and automatically creates clear, concise, ready-to-send messages in Microsoft Outlook, a capability crucial in submitting vital information to higher agency decision-makers.

Additionally, the program has an integrated international and interagency digital phonebook able to continuously update points of contact for all satellite terminals using Department of Defense satellite assets.

“Without Skyforge, satellite network controllers have a dramatically reduced ability to manage the Wideband Global Satellite and Defense Satellite Communications Systems Constellations,” said Skinner.

Cariveau also developed the Facility Controller Toolbox – a database designed to track terrestrial circuits between the five WSOCs worldwide and any open network outage trouble tickets related to these circuits. It is also able to digitally detect any maintenance requirements for essential network equipment valued at over $5 million.

Soldiers like Sgt. Cariveau are indispensable,” said Capt. Noel Bartley, commander of Bravo Company. “He built two highly robust databases that directly support the mission making the jobs of the controllers easier. We need folks like him who have a mindset of, ‘How can I make this better?’ Because it allows us as an organization to move forward. We are very fortunate to have him as a member of the Black Dragon family.”