NAS Kingsville Sailor Named Navy Region Southeast Sailor of the Year

Photo By Rod Hafemeister | AC1 Vincent Stearns, NAS Kingsville's FY 2020 Senior Sailor of the Year; has been selected as Commander, Navy Region Southeast Sailor of the Year. He is going on to compete for Sailor of the Year a Commander, Navy Installations Command.  

KINGSVILLE, TX, UNITED STATES

04.12.2021

Story by Rod Hafemeister 

Naval Air Station Kingsville

It’s not every day a first class petty officer gets a personal call from an admiral.
But that was the case April 12 for Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Vincent Stearns - when Rear Adm. Gary Mayes, Commander, Navy Region Southeast, called him to tell him he had been selected as Region Sailor of the Year.
“It was Rear Adm. Mayes and the Region Command Master Chief telling me I had been selected and was now going to compete at CNIC (Commander, Navy Installations Command),” Stearns said.
Stearns may be the first NAS Kingsville sailor selected for the region honor; no one knows of a prior selectee.
One of the interesting aspects was that Stearns knew Mayes years ago, on his first duty assignment.
“He was the executive officer at Naval Air Station Coronado (Calif.),” Stearns said.
“My first assignment as an air traffic control was at Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island, which fell under Coronado.”
Stearns in December was named NASK’s Senior Sailor of the year for fiscal year 2020, which made him one of 18 sailors eligible for the region competition.
Commander, Navy Region Southeast oversees 18 shore installations within the Southeastern United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“The Navy’s Sailor of the Year program was established in 1972 to recognize and unify our Atlantic and Pacific Fleet Sailors,” said NASK Command Master Chief Petty Officer Jacob Bristow.
“AC1 Stearns is a consummate professional and dedicated sailor. He is a progressive thinker who possesses a solid understanding of the challenges ahead for the Navy and the Department of Defense.”
Previously, boards would look at the nominations and records of the installation selectees and pick a top five, who would then go to Region at NAS Jacksonville, Florida, for a series of events as well as selection of the ultimate selectee.
Because of COVID-19 travel restrictions, this year the command master chiefs of the five selected installations, including Bristow, and the region command master chief conducted a virtual board.
Bristow said Stearns impressed the board with “his knowledge of Navy heritage, regulations, current affairs, and programs that affect Sailors and families.
“He represented himself, our command, and our Navy with the highest standards.”
For Stearns, it was his third time before a board within the last year.
“I was NASK Senior Sailor of the Quarter as well as Senior Sailor of the Year. For both of those, I faced a board of chiefs,” Stearns said.
For the region board, about half the questions were about facts and half about opinions, Stearns said.
“Mostly about leadership. I got the feeling they were trying to get an idea of who I am as a leader,” he said.
A native of Bardstown, Kentucky, Stearns graduated from high school in 2004 and joined the Navy in June 2008. After graduating from Air Traffic Control School, he reported to NALF San Clemente Island.
While there, he qualified as a radar air traffic controller, control tower operator and facility watch supervisor. He rapidly advanced to second class petty officer, received his first Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and was selected as Junior Sailor of the Quarter.
In May 2011, Stearns reported to the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), having first completed Carrier Air Traffic Control Center School. He joined the last six months of the ship’s deployment before it returned to port in Washington State for dry dock operations.
“I didn’t want to sit in port, so I volunteered to join the (USS John C.) Stennis (CVN 74) on its deployment,” Stearns said.
He earned more qualifications and, upon return to the Reagan, was given additional responsibilities and some more awards.
He left as a first class petty officer and reported to the Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) in Pensacola, Florida, in July 2014. After earning instructor certification, he spent three years teaching both Air Traffic Control and Carrier Air Traffic Control Center schools.
He reported to NAS Kingsville in August 2017 and was designated a facility watch supervisor.
According to his nomination package, as Air Traffic Control Division Lead Chief Petty Officer, Stearns “developed a rotating watch bill for the ATC division that mitigated the spread of the COVID-19 virus by distributing facility hours among four newly formed watch sections.”
Stearns also serves as Command Managed Equal Opportunity Manager, Command Motorcycle Safety Representative, Command Honor Guard Leading Petty Officer and Flight Planning Branch Chief and is one of six first class petty officers designated to serve as Command Duty Officer.
He currently lives in Kingsville, Texas, with his wife and two sons.
Besides his Navy duties, Stearns received his associate’s degree in aeronautics from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 2020 and is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree.
“AC1 Stearns is an inspirational leader, motivator and mentor, molding sailors on a daily basis,” Command Master Chief Bristow said.
“His innovative style, versatile approach, infinite knowledge and maturity exemplify the professional naval leader. He continues to positively impact every echelon of NAS Kingsville.
“AC1 is the whole package – fit, poised, dynamic, and friendly. He has both the confidence and warmth that ensures cross-cultural success.
“Simply put, he has made NAS Kingsville a better unit through his unselfish and infectiously positive leadership.”

(A version of this story ran in the April 22 issue of the Kingville (Tx) Record.)

• Date Taken: 04.12.2021
• Date Posted: 04.22.2021 18:14
• Story ID: 394519
• Location: KINGSVILLE, TX, US