Congressional staffer Chris Alsup has been awarded the Colonel Paul W. Arcari Meritorious Service Award of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) for his role in advancing federal legislation making significant contributions to the uniformed services community.

Alsup, Legislative Director for House Republican Conference Secretary John Carter (TX-31), is a native of the Springfield/Petersburg, Illinois area, and a former soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. Alsup also served in Panama and Kuwait before joining Carter’s Washington staff in 2003.

Alsup played the key role in Carter’s efforts this session introducing multiple new bills in support of service members and their families. Carter has thus far passed into law the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act to allow spouses to claim the same state of residency as their military member, and is continuing efforts to pass the Military Spouses Employment Act to provide tax incentives to encourage employers to hire military spouses.

Carter, House Army Caucus Co-Chair, also introduced the Fort Hood Families Benefits Protection Act to raise the status of casualties of the November shooting to the same level as casualties of the 9-11 Pentagon attack, and the Military Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act to protect service members who report radical activities to help avoid similar attacks in the future.