Veterans Day 2026
Honoring the Veterans of NJFX
This November 11, we honor the men and women who served our nation, including two members of our team who now protect the infrastructure that keeps the world connected.
At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the guns of the First World War fell silent. The armistice signed that morning ended the fighting, and the date became a day of remembrance. In 1954 the United States renamed Armistice Day as Veterans Day, broadening it to honor every American who has served in the armed forces, in wartime and in peace.
That distinction matters. Memorial Day honors those who died in service. Veterans Day belongs to the living: the men and women who raised their hand, served, and came home to build careers, families, and communities. Some of them work alongside us every day.
Why we honor them
Military service asks a great deal. It means time away from family, deployments to unfamiliar and dangerous places, and a willingness to put the mission and the people beside you ahead of yourself. Veterans made that commitment on behalf of all of us, and most did it without expecting recognition.
Veterans Day is our chance to say thank you, and to say it publicly. At NJFX, it is also a chance to recognize the colleagues whose service did not end when they took off the uniform.
Service is part of where we stand
NJFX sits in Wall Township, a community with deep roots in military communications. During World War II, the Army Signal Corps ran its radar research at Camp Evans, just a few miles from our campus. In January 1946, engineers there sent a radar signal to the moon and received its echo through Project Diana, an early step toward space communications. For decades, nearby Fort Monmouth served as home of the Army Signal Corps.
Long before subsea cables landed on this stretch of the Jersey Shore, the people who served here were working on how to move information reliably across great distances. That history is part of the ground we operate on, and it is carried forward in a very real way by the veterans on our team.
A commitment that continues
NJFX is a cable landing station, where subsea cables from across the Atlantic come ashore and connect to the networks that carry them inland. The traffic passing through our campus supports financial markets, cloud services, businesses, and the everyday calls and messages that connect people across continents. Protecting it is a responsibility that reaches far beyond our property line.
The veterans on our team understand that responsibility instinctively. They committed themselves first to our nation. Today they bring that same commitment to critical infrastructure that the world depends on to communicate. We are grateful to have them.
They served our nation. Today they protect the infrastructure that keeps the world connected.
What veterans bring to critical infrastructure
A cable landing station and data center run around the clock. Our customers count on uptime, security, and a team that responds with clarity when something unexpected happens. Those expectations align closely with what military service teaches.
- Operational disciplineFollowing procedure precisely, because small details protect the whole system.
- Redundancy thinkingPlanning for the failure before it happens and always having a backup path.
- Composure under pressureStaying steady and communicating clearly when the stakes are high.
- Security awarenessTreating physical and operational security as everyone's responsibility.
- Commitment to the teamKnowing the mission succeeds only when the people around you succeed.
The veterans who secure our campus
Every person and every piece of equipment that enters NJFX passes through our security and site access team. Two members of that team first learned the work in uniform.
Veteran Spotlight
James Harrison
Security and Site Access Manager, NJFX
Born and raised in Carteret, New Jersey, James has spent more than two decades in the Army and the Army National Guard, most of it as a Military Police Paratrooper, with three deployments to Iraq, one to Afghanistan, and a critical site security mission at Guantanamo Bay.
- Branch
- U.S. Army and New Jersey Army National Guard
- Service
- Enlisted in 1999
- Rank
- Sergeant First Class (E-7)
- Specialty
- 31B, Military Police, Airborne
- Deployments
- Iraq: Operation Iraqi Freedom I, 04-05, and 07-09; Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom 12-13; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: Task Force Praetorian, 2018 to 2019
- Selected honors
- Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters
- Combat Action Badge
- Parachutist and Air Assault Badges
- Honor Graduate, U.S. Army Master Leader Course
- Education
- B.A. in Public Administration, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Answering the call
James enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 1999 as an Intelligence Analyst. The attacks of September 11, 2001 changed his path. He joined the Regular Army, graduated from both the Military Police School and Airborne School in 2002, and reported to Fort Bragg as a Paratrooper with the 65th Military Police Company (Airborne).
Within months, his unit deployed to Mosul, Iraq, where he advanced from Gunner to Driver to MP Team Leader. Less than a year later he returned to Iraq, this time training the Iraqi Highway Police south of Baghdad. He then volunteered for a third deployment as a Squad Leader with the 108th Military Police Company (Airborne) (Air Assault), supporting Iraqi police across eastern Baghdad, including Sadr City during the Surge.
Leading security missions
At Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, James served as a Squad Leader, Operations NCO, and Platoon Sergeant for the 152nd Military Police Platoon, and was the last senior NCO remaining when the platoon was inactivated in 2011. In 2012 he moved to the New Jersey Army National Guard's 508th Military Police Company and deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, providing area security for the Kabul Base Cluster and partnering with Afghan police.
In 2018 he deployed as Detachment Sergeant with Task Force Praetorian at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, helping lead a detachment of Military Police responsible for critical site security. He went on to serve as a Senior Human Resources NCO, a Military Police Instructor at the 254th Regional Training Institute, and Program Manager for the New Jersey Army National Guard's Officer Candidate School, developing the Guard's future officers.
Securing critical infrastructure
Protecting critical sites, managing access, and leading teams through high-stakes conditions have been the core of James's career. At NJFX, he applies that experience to the security of a cable landing station and data center that carriers and customers rely on around the clock.
Thank you, James, for your service and for the standard you set for our team.
Veteran Spotlight
Vernon Williams Jr.
Security Officer, Site Access Team, NJFX
Before joining NJFX, Vernon spent nine years in the United States Army as a Petroleum Supply Specialist, supporting operations at home and overseas, including multiple deployments to Iraq.
- Branch
- United States Army
- Service
- 2001 to 2010 (9 years)
- Rank
- Specialist (E-4) at separation
- Specialty
- 92F, Petroleum Supply Specialist (Combat Fueler)
- Unit
- S&T Troop, Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colorado
- Deployments
- Operation Iraqi Freedom (2002 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005); Operation Bright Star in Egypt; support of Operation Enduring Freedom
- After service
- Returned to Iraq as a civilian
Keeping the mission moving
Nothing in the Army moves without fuel. As a Petroleum Supply Specialist, Vernon received, stored, tested, transported, and distributed the petroleum products that kept vehicles, aircraft, generators, and other mission-essential equipment running.
At Fort Carson, that work supported daily operations, training exercises, equipment readiness, and preparation for deployment. It meant operating specialized fueling equipment and holding to strict safety and quality standards every time.
Overseas, the stakes rose. Combat fuelers supported convoy missions, set up and maintained field refueling points, and made sure units had what they needed to operate in demanding and unpredictable conditions. At home or abroad, the job came down to readiness: keeping the mission moving.
From service to security
Nine years of dedication, teamwork, discipline, and commitment to fellow service members shaped the way Vernon works today. On our site access team, he brings the same professionalism and vigilance to protecting the people, partners, and infrastructure at NJFX.
Service runs in the family. Vernon's daughter, Trinity Williams, has served in the United States Air Force since 2024.
Thank you, Vernon, for your service to our country and for everything you bring to our team.
Our gratitude
James and Vernon each spent years serving our country, often far from home and in difficult conditions. They came back and chose work that still asks for vigilance, discipline, and a sense of duty to something larger than themselves. Every day, they help keep a vital link in global communications secure and running.
Honoring veterans starts with a simple thank you, and it should not end on November 11. It means listening to their experience, valuing the skills they bring, and supporting the veterans and military families in our community. If there is a veteran in your life or on your team, take a moment this week to reach out and ask about their service.
To James, to Vernon, and to every veteran who has served: thank you. Your commitment to our nation, and now to the networks that connect it to the world, means more than we can say.
