HARTFORD, Conn. –
Connecticut Army National Guard 1st Sgt. Katarzyna Zarzycka, logistics noncommissioned officer in charge for 85th Troop Command, was recently named Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) Logistics Warrior of the Month for February 2025.
As the NCOIC, Zarzycka is responsible for ensuring the command’s downtrace units are staffed and resourced with rations, fuel, ammunition, and trained to conduct training for mobilizations and deployments. Additionally, she manages the property books for these units and is responsible for more than $170 million worth of equipment.
While these feats are worthy themselves of praise, Zarzycka has been influential not just within the 85th Troop Command but the Connecticut National Guard at large.
Together with other senior supply NCOs, she realized there was a knowledge gap within the supply community; junior supply NCOs did not have much experience with properly addressing logistical issues within their units. Zarzycka figured one way she could make the lives of her fellow supply sergeants easier was by getting everyone on the same sheet of music and implemented a local program that cultivated the best practices and institutional knowledge learned from experienced leaders within the logistics field.
“We look at trends, identify issues and see what we can do to fix them,” said Zarzycka. “It gives a broader view of logistics as a whole. The biggest impact was getting people together, learning collectively from each other. How they do things and being able to share their processes. That learning, being able to pass on knowledge, some of the E-6s, those staff sergeants, those supply NCOs, are taking what they learned and putting it into place.”
When the 143rd Regional Support Group’s headquarters deployed to Jordan in October 2020, Zarzycka stepped up and managed logistics and property for three of the RSG’s battalions, the 118th Multifunctional Medical Battalion, the 143rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and the 192nd Engineer Battalion, in addition to her responsibilities with the 85th Troop Command. Taking on these duties also meant she was responsible for an additional $196 million worth of equipment, totaling her property book's value at approximately $366 million.
“We didn’t get any extra staff to do that,” explained Zarzycka. “We had really good processes in place, that definitely helped. The infantry battalion deployed at the same time as the RSG did, so we lost a battalion, gained three. It wasn’t an even wash but sometimes it’s easier to manage some battalions as opposed to others. Also COVID was happening at that time, so we got a little reprieve from drill.”
Zarzycka, no stranger to humanitarian missions having supported relief operations for various tropical storms and hurricanes, would play a major role during the Connecticut National Guard's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She supported over 800 missions which provided assistance to over 169 municipalities within the state, enabling the delivery of 900,000 test kits and the creation, and sustainment, of 28 testing and vaccination locations.
Additionally, Zarzycka also supported the rapid deployment and sustainment of the Connecticut Army National Guard's military police and medics to Washington, D.C. during the 59th and 60th Presidential Inaugurations.
“She holds you and herself to an extremely high standard,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Matthew Baldoni, the Connecticut Army National Guard's Senior Property Accounting Technician. “She is aggressive in her approach, but also kind at the same time. She expects everybody to be held to that same high standard. She doesn’t care about your rank, there is a standard and you should adhere to it. That’s her M.O.”
Despite being highly praised by her peers, and having done more than enough to earn this award, Zarzycka was taken by surprise when she got the news.
“I found out when the article [Chief Baldoni wrote] got published,” explained Zarzycka. “Chief Baldoni set me up when he took the photo. I genuinely had no clue until the article got published. It’s kind of overwhelming. I just do what I do because that’s my job. So, to see it all in writing, what I do at Troop Command, what I did for 6 years, I didn’t even realize [everything I had done]. So it’s a bit overwhelming. It wasn't expected, [but] I’m highly appreciative. I just always thought I was doing what I was supposed to do, and what NCOs do. You always hope you are setting the right example.”