Courtesy Photo | Petty Officer 1st Class Christy Herms, a lead instructor at Coast Guard Training...... read more read more
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CAPE MAY, N.J. – A local Coast Guardsman will be named the Enlisted Person of the Year for 2012 in the 5th Coast Guard District Friday at 8:30 a.m.
Petty Officer 1st Class Christy Herms from Houston, a lead instructor at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, was selected as the Enlisted Person of the Year from more than 3,000 active duty Coast Guardsmen stationed in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and North Carolina.
“I’m honored and humbled to be selected for this prestigious award, but I couldn’t have done it without the never ending support of my husband, family, shipmates and command,” said Herms. “I will continue to honorably serve the United States Coast Guard and my shipmates to best my abilities.”
Rear Adm. Steven H. Ratti, the 5th District commander in Portsmouth, Va., will present Herms her award during a ceremony Friday.
Herms was recognized for a variety of her contributions at the Coast Guard’s only enlisted accession point including revamping the Coast Guard’s entry-level CPR/First Aid curriculum, managing the training data of more than 2,500 recruits and qualifying as one of only a handful of master training specialists in the Coast Guard, which is the highest instructor qualification available to Coast Guardsmen. She was also instrumental in directly helping several service members as an applied suicide intervention responder in the region.
In her free time, Herms also led a number of initiatives aimed at supporting the community of southern New Jersey. She was instrumental in the administration of recruit blood drives for the American Red Cross, which collected more than 809 units of blood in 2012. She was also an active member of the Coast Guard’s Partnership in Education Program promoting learning with children both in the classroom and at home, helping to build playgrounds at area schools and devoting more than 40 hours to help area children with their homework after school.
Herms devoted a number of hours to improving the quality of life for Coast Guardsmen as the president of the Coast Guard Enlisted Association, a service organization that supports the Coast Guard enlisted workforce. She also organized a Parent’s Committee for the Child Development Center at Training Center Cape May where more than 80 military children are cared for every year.
In 2012, Herms was also awarded the Master Chief Petty Officer Pearl Faurie Women’s Leadership award for “inspirational, innovative and imaginative leadership and mentorship on and off duty,” according to the Coast Guard’s diversity staff. She was also selected as Training Center Cape May’s Enlisted Person of the Year for 2012.
Herms currently resides in Cape May Courthouse, N.J., with her husband, Tom, and two children, Cassie and Troy. Herms’ mother, Janet Lovelady, currently resides in Clayton, N.M., and her brother Christopher Lovelady lives in Katy, Texas. Herms is a 2000 graduate of South Houston High School.
Editor’s Note: Media are welcome to attend this event where they will have an opportunity to interview Herms and her shipmates about her accomplishments in 2012. Please RSVP with Donnie Brzuska if interested at O: 609-898-6362, C: 609-224-0214 or E: Donnie.C.Brzuska@uscg.mil.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2013 16:35 |
| Story ID: | 106243 |
| Location: | CAPE MAY, NJ, US |
| Hometown: | CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ, US |
| Hometown: | CLAYTON, NM, US |
| Hometown: | HOUSTON, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 241 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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