The Army Public Affairs Association is proud to announce Army Master Sgt. Charles E. (Chuck) Burden is the 2021 recipient of the Master St. Marcia Triggs Award for Excellence. Burden is the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Joint Staff Public Affairs Office at the Pentagon. The Triggs Award is an annual recognition for an Army noncommissioned officer in grades E-6 through E-8 who has demonstrated outstanding and sustained excellence in leadership.
According to his award nomination, Master Sgt. Burden came to his position at the personal request of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in November 2019. Since that time, Master Set. Burden has been the cornerstone of the organization, leading by example with excellence, complete dedication and professionalism. He maintains a keen and thorough awareness of each and every team members' disposition - both professionally and personally. He is a team builder, and his insight and advice play a significant role in shaping the culture of the entire Public Affairs Office.
Burden established a Professional Development Club, gathering team members - civilians, contractors, officers and NCOs - for monthly discussions on personality traits, work habits, business development tools and myriad topics leading to the OCJCS-PA team being more efficient and more effective. His ability to network led to multiple successes where DoD Public Affairs, the Army Multimedia and Visual Information Directorate (AMVID), the U.S. Navy Chief of Information (CHINFO) staff, and the Department of Homeland Security work together in a concerted effort to support public information priorities for the Chairman and the other Joint Chiefs. Burden leads and develops a team that achieves, producing a Soldier who graduated from the Noncommissioned Officer Education System as a distinguished honor graduate, a Joint Staff sailor of the quarter, and a DoD civilian earning an advanced schooling slot at American University. The joint team routinely depends on Burden to lead efforts for projects and looks to him for advice ranging from strategic communication to Army Combat Fitness Test training. No office survives on a single person, yet Burden has proven to be a linchpin to this organization.
Master Sgt. Burden has demonstrated his characteristic excellence throughout his career. Prior to his assignment with the Joint Staff Public Affairs Office, Master St. Burden was a Tropic Lightning achiever arriving at the 25th Infantry Division in 2017. While there, Burden took on additional responsibilities to lead public affairs efforts for four division exercises and Warfighter Exercise 19-01, where the Division Public Affairs team earned Best-Of U.S. Army- wide that year. Additionally, Burden planned and led the execution of the CG-driven 25th Infantry Division branding and history initiative. Working with the Army Institute of Heraldry, Burden took on the effort to recreate an historically accurate interpretation of the official 25th Infantry Division logo/colors. This logo has since been placed on the division headquarters, the official website, and all division materials. Burden's ability to build relationships across multiple entities led to division imagery and logos being installed prominently for the first time in the Exchange and Commissary - imagery highlighting the Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division training and executing multiple missions across the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Burden also served as the Billing Official, Certifying Officer, and Agency/Organization Program Coordinator, a role in which he secured $80K of essential production equipment to essentially re-equip three brigades and a mobile public affairs detachment that had outdated gear; budgeted for and managed Soldiers on TDY; and procured the first man-pack DVDS system in the unit's history.
Another example of Master Sgt. Burden's outstanding accomplishments is then-Sgt. 1st Class Burden was handpicked by the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army to serve as his official photographer in spite of his MOS as a broadcaster. His work subsequently appeared in an array of web sites, publications, social media platforms, and is consistently picked up in civilian media to accompany stories on the Army's highest uniformed office. Burden's expertise and professionalism in this position for two years resulted in the Chief of Staff officially authorizing a public affairs Soldier being placed on staff in an official TDA position - a net career management field increase. Burden was formally recognized by both the Canadian Army and the U.S. Army Europe-Africa Public Affairs Office for his excellence. Burden also developed his team professionally. Mentoring two junior COs, one who graduated from university and the other accepting the challenge of becoming a recruiter. In addition, Burden reached outside his chain of command to mentor an additional seven junior Soldiers in AMID, seeing three through a board and subsequent promotion to CO and 100% enrolled in continuing education.
Master Sgt. Burden's citation reads. "When looking at the breadth and depth of Master Sgt. Burden's career, he epitomizes what it means to be a Public Affairs professional and a Non-Commissioned Officer. Our NCO Corps is the envy of the world precisely because of Soldiers like Chuck Burden. His ability to quickly synthesize information, develop a course of action and then provide purpose, direction and motivation to those around him is simply unmatched. Caring for others and accomplishing the mission are Master St. Burden's hallmarks. Serving at the division and above level is where Master St. Burden truly shines. With little to no notice and especially during times of crisis, Master St. Burden is relied upon by our Army's most senior leaders to deliver on-time products ahead of schedule while ensuring that those around him are able to learn and grow. His ability to foster a diverse inclusive workforce that respects the individual talents and merits of those around him is simply remarkable. On the Joint Staff, we not only have officers and NCOs from all of the services and all walks of life, but we also frequently interact with our Nation's most senior leaders. Master St. Burden can be counted on to respect the dignity and diversity of everyone and take into account the many cultural and human differences that make every individual unique. Master Sgt. Burden is also able to operate in the most stressful of environments and do so while maintaining the dignity and respect of others. A quality that we most appreciate about him. The leadership that Master St. Burden displays on a daily basis ranges from the modest organizing of tasks to the truly empathetic leadership he exhibited upon the untimely death of a beloved colleague. Because of Master Sgt. Burden's capacity for caring and ability to bring the office together on one of our darkest days, he enabled the office to heal and continue to support the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Master Set. Burden achieves; he has worked at the sharp end of Public Affairs for the past seven years establishing an impeccable reputation with our DoD's most senior leaders to communicate their message directly to the force and our most important customer, the American people. All the while, he seeks to place his efforts into accomplishing the mission while developing the peers and subordinates with which he serves. Master Sgt. Burden's work honors the history of the public affairs Soldier, and he upholds a legacy of greatness and potential only seen in the likes of Soldiers like Master Sergeant Marcia J. Triggs."
"Master Sgt. Burden is the tenth recipient of this prestigious award, and we are honored to recognize him this year, " Army Public Affairs Association President John Harlow said. "The members of the association's Board of Directors and I look forward to honoring Chuck, along with 2020 recipient Sgt. 1st Class Heather Deny, with great fanfare and well- deserved accolades once it is safe again to gather in person. Until then, we invite our career field and community to reach out and join us in congratulating this year's finest of NCOs, Master Sgt. Chuck Burden."
The Triggs Award is named after Master Sgt. Marcia J. Triggs, an Army print journalist and public affairs noncommissioned officer, who remained on active duty until her death. She deployed to Iraq twice with the 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, and was working at the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs at the Pentagon during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The Army Public Affairs Association would again like to take this opportunity to thank Bell for their sponsorship of the Master Sgt. Marcia Triggs Award for Excellence.