Winthrop Maine Guard member wins award for logo design

PHOTO: Sr. Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead presents Sgt. 1st Class Alyson Pelletier, of Winthrop, with her award, alongside Pelletier’s mother Kellie, and Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, National Guard adjutant general for Maine. (Maine National Guard Sgt. Darin Douin photo)

AUGUSTA — Sgt. 1st Class Alyson Pelletier, of Winthrop, was presented with an award on June 4, at Camp Chamberlain, for her design for the national leadership position of the Office of the National Guard Bureau.

Pelletier was presented the award by Sr. Enlisted Advisor Tony Whitehead, senior advisor to the chief of the NGB. Her design was chosen from a field of more than 20 entries from across the 54 states and territories.
Whitehead had asked for submissions to re-brand his office with what he calls the three E’s, or “3 Echo” – educate, empower, and execute – which represent the core SEA priorities as he supports the chief of the National Guard Bureau’s focus on people, readiness, modernization, and reform.
“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 at the award ceremony, as well as 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; 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 is the marketing noncommissioned officer for the Maine Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion. She lives in Winthrop with her partner Paul Simoneau, also a member of the National Guard.