A Bermudian who joined the US military in his teens has gone on to work for Army Intelligence’s highly secretive Network Warfare Battalion.Based in the Fort Meade complex in Maryland, the 704th Military Intelligence Brigade works closely with the National Security Agency to defend American electronic networks and scan communications.Nicknamed the “cyber battalion”, it was formally activated in 2008.Sergeant First Class Leonard Crichton, 34, rose to unexpected notoriety after a shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona killed six people and injured 14 including the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who presided over Sgt Crichton’s re-enlistment ceremony.Commenting on the video of the September 29 ceremony, Sgt Crichton said: “I don’t know my re-enlistment story was going to go viral.”Re-enlistment is a soldier’s formal confirmation as a career member of the US Army.Sgt Crichton said he had requested Ms Giffords for his re-enlistment in part because she represents district eight in Arizona, where he lived.He said: “Congresswoman Giffords has a warm personality. A good example of this is what happened that Saturday (January 8). She flew back to Arizona to meet her constituents. She wasn’t surrounded by police officers, and that describes her. She believes, from what I’ve seen, in doing the duty of her position. And as you can see also, she’s a fighter.”Sgt Crichton was born in Bermuda in 1976 and grew up in Devonshire. He attended Elliott Primary and then Berkeley Institute, before moving to the US at the age of 15.He said: “My father was a police officer from St Vincent and my mother was attending Bermuda College. Her sister had married a Bermudian, and so I was fortunate to be born in Bermuda of West Indian parents. I stayed with my aunt, who’s from the Famous family, and I loved Bermuda, growing up. I still brag about the pink sand.”For security reasons, Sgt Crichton is reluctant to divulge too many personal details, and said his early life in Bermuda often doesn’t appear on records.He said: “I became Leonard Crichton when I came to America. When I became an American citizen I chose to assume my father’s name.”He said he doesn’t return to the Island as much as he’d like because his highly secret work keeps him extremely busy.“I’m not 100 percent sure when I’ll be down next. I was going to try to come back for Cup Match last year but I’m a workaholic and I got too busy and the time just passed me entirely. I’d like to come back for a festive time of the year when there’s lobster and swimming.”