The Air Forceâs 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2022 will be formally recognized at AFAâs Air, Space & Cyber Conference from Sept. 19 to 21 in National Harbor, Md. Air & Space Forces Magazine is highlighting one each weekday from now until the conference begins. Today, we honor Senior Airman DeMarion N. Davis, Wing TEMPEST Manager for the 48th Communications Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, England.Â
Davis, an E-4, filled an E-5 position for over a year amid a 40 percent personnel shortage due to a mix of lingering pandemic effects and low Air Force enlistment rates. The staff shortage is especially palpable for those in Davisâ specific career fieldâhe estimates that the Air Force has only 1,200 to 1,300 cyber specialists who work in TEMPEST, a technology that prevents devices from emitting electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that might be intercepted and deciphered into confidential data.Â
âTEMPEST is kind of one of those overlooked programs where people donât really keep it up because every space on base has to be certified, and after itâs initially certified ⊠people will cycle and PCS, and it doesnât get the [same] turnover that it necessarily needs,â Davis said.
The only Airman in Lakenheathâs Information Assurance Office, Davis was tasked with bringing the baseâs TEMPEST certifications up to speed. The assignment required him to take a weeklong AFSEC manager course at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., to learn the ins and outs of the technology and NATOâs standards. When he returned to Lakenheath, he tackled and completed the TEMPEST certification at 54 processing sites on base.Â
âI was happy to do it,â he said. âI look forward to passing [the program] on to whoever comes behind me and leaving it in an upstanding position for them.â
While chasing these certifications, Davis stayed busy with other pressing tasks. In response to Russian aggression, the 336th Fighter Squadron from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., deployed to Lakenheath and needed an operations desk. With only a week of lead time for a project that might take weeks or months, Davisâs squadron stood up the desk and got it approved in a matter of two days.
These last-minute projects find their way onto Davisâ to-do list because of his track record of completing them. Among his other timely accomplishments was when he converted the enlisted club into a temporary classified area facilitating a nuclear summit, a project that earned personal lauds from the U.S. Air Forces in Europe commander. Davis also stepped up as the Air Force Ball subcommittee lead to host a âflawlessâ event for 1,000 senior enlisted leaders, and he headed the project âWi-Fi the Wingâ to provide wireless network connections across the entire Lakenheath base.Â
âI was excited,â Davis said about initially being asked to complete responsibilities typically reserved for staff sergeants. âIâm a go-getter. I donât like sitting around and not being busy.â
The go-getter, workhorse spirit that Davis embodies was instilled in him at an early age, perhaps before he was even born. His father retired as a senior master sergeant after 26 years of service, and his grandfather was a private first class during the Korean War.Â
âAs a young kid, I never understood why my dad was so hard on me about certain things,â Davis said. ââMake your bed in the morning.â âMake sure that your pants are on the hanger properly.â âMake sure youâre folding clothes properlyââ[he was saying to] hold yourself to a certain standard.â
Thanks to those standards and his proven success with tasks beyond his duties, Davisâ rank will match his resume soonâhe was selected for staff sergeant in August.
Meet the other Outstanding Airmen of the Year in 2022 below:âŻâŻâŻâŻâŻâŻ