DCSA's Tammy Hendrickson on Public Service - a Public Service Recognition Week Perspective

Photo By Christopher Gillis | Tammy Hendrickson, a senior representative for the DCSA Industrial Security Mission Area, shares her thoughts about public service in recognition of Public Service Recognition Week. "When a person serves, they look out-side of themselves, beyond their own problems, and seek to bring value to others," said Hendrickson, who grew up in the foster care system. "Who knew that someone could go from being a foster child to a federal agent at The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA)? Only in America can such a thing even be possible. This is now my opportunity to give back to my community and to my country in a way that I never dreamed could be possible. I do it proudly with dignity, honor, loyalty and respect. As an employee of DCSA, I provide a service to this country that is outside of myself, beyond my own problems, while striving to bring value to build partnerships with industry and my team on a daily basis."  

UNITED STATES

05.12.2023

Courtesy Story

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) honors the dedicated and patriotic public servants in our nation, including its employees, as we celebrate Public Service Recognition Week. Since 1985, Americans have been honoring the men and women who serve as federal, state, county and local government employees. In recognition of PSRW, May 7-13, Tammy Hendrickson, a senior representative for the DCSA Industrial Security Mission Area, shares her thoughts about public service. Hendrickson's perspective is representative of public servants in DCSA engaged to protect our nation’s critical assets through enterprise risk management, continuous innovation and excellence in mission performance and customer service.

Tammy Hendrickson

It takes a special type of person to live a life of public service. It means you are doing something primarily for the benefit and goodwill of another person or group of people. When a person serves, they look out-side of themselves, beyond their own problems, and seek to bring value to others.

Beginning life in the foster care system is a tough road to success. That circumstance left me at the age of 18 finishing up high school as an emancipated adult, wondering where I would be sleeping and when I would be eating my next meal. I relied on the kindness of others in my community, by asking if I could provide services such as cleaning and cutting grass in return for a couch to sleep on until I graduated. I went to school during the day, worked after school as a janitor, then walked to a local frozen yogurt restaurant to work a few more hours before completing homework for the next day. Most nights, I was up until after midnight, solving quadratic equations for the next day’s math assignment, wondering when or if I would utilize any of this in real world applications. All of that, so I could go to college and begin my next chapter.

That experience taught me the most valuable lesson of my life. Without public service, we as humans cannot and will not survive and thrive. For without the kindness of others when needed, what truly are we as a species?

When I look back, I was a living, breathing, walking billboard. I was inadvertently advertising a public service announcement for the rest of the world to see. Proof, that when done correctly, public service can provide value and positive results to change people’s lives for the better. Because of my upbringing, I knew when I began college that I was going to somehow, someway, live a life as a public servant.

Public service is what sets this country apart from the rest of the world. Who knew that someone could go from being a foster child to a federal agent at the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA)? Only in America can such a thing even be possible.

This is now my opportunity to give back to my community and to my country in a way that I never dreamed could be possible. I do it proudly with dignity, honor, loyalty and respect. As an employee of DCSA, I provide a service to this country that is outside of myself, beyond my own problems, while striving to bring value to build partnerships with industry and my team on a daily basis.

Former President John F. Kennedy said it best, "The success of this government, and thus the success of our nation, depends in the last analysis upon the quality of our career services. The legislation enacted by the Congress, as well as the decisions made by me and by the department and agency heads, must all be implemented by the career men and women in the federal service. In foreign affairs, national defense, science and technology, and a host of other fields, they face problems of unprecedented importance and perplexity. We are all dependent on their sense of loyalty and responsibility as well as their competence and energy." --"Special Message to the Congress on Federal Pay Reform (55)," February 20, 1962, Public Papers of the Presidents: John F. Kennedy, 1962.

So, what does public service mean to me? Simply put, it is everything, it is my life!

• Date Taken: 05.12.2023
• Date Posted: 05.12.2023 11:06
• Story ID: 444623
• Location: US