AUGUSTA — Sgt. 1st Class Alyson Pelletier received an award June 4 for her brand design for the office of the National Guard Bureau senior enlisted advisor.

Senior Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, senior advisor to the chief of the National Guard Bureau, presented the award at a Camp Chamberlain ceremony.

Pelletier’s design was chosen from a field of more than 20 entries from across the 54 states and territories.

Months prior, Whitehead asked for submissions from the field to re-brand his office with what he calls the three E’s, or “3 Echo” — educate, empower, and execute. These represent the core SEA priorities as he supports the chief of the National Guard Bureau’s focus on people, readiness, modernization, and reform, according to a news release from the Maine National Guard.

“Of course I was interested,” Pelletier said. “I thought of it as a fun design challenge that would test my creative problem-solving abilities and customer service skills.”

Whitehead said Pelletier’s design resonated with him because he felt it “embodied history, the present, and the future,” and that he appreciated her humble conversation with him when he called to congratulate her, noting that she personified “a spirit of service.”

Whitehead thanked those in attendance and the organization for its commitment to a rigorous operational tempo during COVID, support to the Southwest border, overseas operations, and the 59th Presidential Inauguration when essentially a division-sized element descended on the nation’s capital from all across the country.

Also present at the ceremony were Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, Maine’s adjutant general; Brig. Gen. Dean Preston, land component commander; Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Dill, state command sergeant major; Pelletier’s mother Kellie Pelletier; and family friends Mark and Cindy Anthony, veterans who originally encouraged Pelletier to pursue looking into serving in the military.

A public affairs specialist by trade, Pelletier currently serves as the marketing non-commissioned officer for the Maine Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion. She and her fiancée Paul Simoneau, also a National Guard soldier and recruiter, reside in Winthrop.

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