Captain Craig Stepp is highly deserving of recognition as a  Distinguished Young AFCEAN of the Year for 2009.  This fine young officer distinguished  himself this year in his professional military career in the Joint  Communications Support Element (JCSE), and Special Operations Command Central  (SOCCENT).  This dedicated young  professional found a way to balance his daily work life, leading IT  professionals in these warfighting organizations,  with his professional development life, serving as the Tampa-St Pete AFCEA Chapter’s  2nd Vice President while simultaneously co-leading the Tampa-St Pete  Young AFCEAN Committee.

As the chapter’s 2nd Vice President, Craig  provided executive-level leadership and guidance to the chapter’s  Programs, Young AFCEAN, Corporate Sponsorship  and Awards committees. Under hisleadership, each of these committees exceeded its 2009 goals early –  accomplishments that are highlighted in our Model Chapter of the Year  submission.  Craig actively participated  in the chapter’s Executive Committee meetings and processes, providing keen  insights from a uniformed serviceman’s perspective to a committee mainly  constituted by industry professionals.   He also served extremely well in a key role during a transitional time  when the chapter president was re-assigned and the committee searched for a new  chapter president.

During 2009, with Craig’s Stepp’s leadership,  the Young AFCEANs of the Tampa-St. Pete Pelican Chapter led or co-led five of  the chapter’s eight standing committees.   They coordinated or participated in numerous events that were geared towards  professional development, executive-level participation in chapter meetings,  and community service.  They were  critical to successfully executing Tampa TechNet 2009 and Chapter Scholarship  Golf Tournament events.

These events included sending three Young AFCEANs to San  Diego to participate in professional development sessions and seminars during  AFCEA West and then reporting the highlights of this event to the chapter's  Executive Committee.  Under Captain Stepp’s leadership, the Young AFCEANs also leveraged JCSE  to host a professional development session centered on the emergent everything  over internet protocol approach to battlefield communications.  They also participated in a joint Young  AFCEAN event with the South Florida Chapter Young AFCEANs.

The Young AFCEANs also played critical roles in the Tampa  TechNet planning committee and the annual Golf Tournament, helping to  coordinate military volunteers and protocol functions. These two events are  critical to the chapter achieving its annual revenue goals and thus enable the  chapter to provide scholarship funds to deserving students.  Captain Stepp and our Young AFCEANs are also  involved in the local community, participating in the first annual West Point  Society-Tampa Chapter High School Ethics Conference, as well as spearheading an  effort to bring Holiday joy and gifts to local underprivileged children during  the Chapter's annual Holiday luncheon.

Under his leadership, the Tampa-St Petersburg AFCEA  Chapter's Young AFCEAN Program has progressed into a model to be emulated by  other chapters and has been recommended for recognition for the Young AFCEAN  Program Award.

A consummate professional and dedicated warfighting  leader, Captain Stepp is highly deserving of recognition as a Distinguished  Young AFCEAN.