Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security
Issue link: https://uscgreservist.epubxp.com/i/386902
Reservists answer the "call" as DhS responds to data breach concerns Story by Sheldon Smith, Management Communications In response to the massive data breach of a major U.S. contactor that conducts background checks for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), several DHS component offices banded together to launch a Privacy Incident Call Center. The contractor, U.S. Investigation Services, was targeted by a reported cyber-attack that compromised the personally-identifiable information of thousands of DHS employees. The call center went live Aug. 21, following the release of the targeted email message that provided instructions to employees identified as having been impacted by the breach. Six employees from Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Privacy Office, and Coast Guard started operations in the call center. As Coast Guard Reserve personnel became available they progressively assumed more of the workload. Currently, five reservists are supporting the Privacy Incident Call Center. They are Petty Officers 2nd Class Paul Inglis, and, Walker Stump-Coale, Erwin Aquino and Petty Officers 3rd Class Victor Castaneda, Anish Kamble. Jeff Bardwell, an executive strategic communications liaison in the Chief Procurement Office, played a key role in the call center activation. During the initial phase of call center operations, he took calls from impacted employees and resolved questions from call center staff. Bardwell also managed the development of messages for employees that address employee concerns. "I adjusted team messaging and methods constantly in response to developments," he said. According to Chris Armstrong, a program analyst in the Chief Procurement Office and call center leader, the center received 581 calls from Thursday, Aug. 21, at 4:55 p.m., through 6:00 p.m., the next day. "I'm so proud of the Management Directorate lines of business. Everyone who had a part to play didn't hesitate to do what needed to be done, she said." The center was up, staffed and ready to take calls by 11 a.m. Aug. 21 -- six hours before the message was sent." Armstrong expects the call center to remain operational until Sept. 20, but that could change based on call volume. "People appreciated a sympathetic ear," Bardwell said. "They appreciated that we answered the phone directly, that we returned calls, and that we were also Feds." "We let callers know that DHS is a department of real people who care about them, even if we couldn't personally do much to help them," he added. "We train every single time we get underway," said Arencibia. "We train for something like this on a day-to-day basis," he said, clearly pleased with the outcome. "With the reservists, the American people are getting a trained group of professionals." Though understated in his comments, Regalado was all smiles when discussing the child whose life his crew saved. "It was a good case, I don't know how else to say it," he said. Regalado credits the success of the mission to the rigorous training his crew undergoes. That includes Boat Forces training, providing the crew exposure to the environment where they perform rescues. By all accounts, the Base Miami Beach reserve crew executed a flawless rescue mission proving their mettle along with the value of such training. — By PA3 Joseph J. Betson, 7th District Public Affairs Team From left to right- Petty offcer 2nd Class Paul inglis, Petty offcer 2nd Walker Stump- Coale, Vice Commandant Peter neffenger, Petty offcer 2nd Shay Spivey, Petty offcer 3rd Victor Castaneda and Petty offcer 2nd erwin aquino. With the exception of Petty offcer Spivey the other Petty offcers are Coast guard reservists. not pictured but also a reservist assigned to the call center is Petty offcer 3rd anish Kamble.. Station Miami Beach boat crew video by Pa3 Joseph J. Betson Issue 3 • 2014 � RESERVIST 9