Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Riley | 191121-N-MZ309-001 NAVAL HOSPITAL BREMERTON, Wash. (Nov. 21, 2019) Hospital Corpsman...... read more read more
This year six nominees from Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) competed for the title of Junior Sailor of the Year (JSOY), and one proved to be a cut above the rest.
Captain Shannon Johnson, NHB’s commanding officer, said the competition was particularly fierce and after congratulating all the nominees announced Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Daniel J. Gonzalez as this year’s JSOY.
Gonzalez, from Los Angeles, graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in 2011 and is attending National University to receive an associate degree in biology.
He began his military career in 2011 in the Delayed Entry Program and entered boot camp in 2012.
Navy Medicine interested Gonzalez because he has passion for helping people.
“I am honestly just a person that wants to serve and have found purpose in not only serving the nation, but serving Sailors and their families along with my own family,” said Gonzalez.
Since joining, Navy Medicine has taken Gonzalez around the globe.
“Navy Medicine has taken me to support many facets of the Navy and Marine Corps team,” said Gonzalez. “I have deployed to Iraq twice and to Asia once. I have been with Navy Medicine West through all my commands and the West Coast.”
When asked about his most exciting moment with Navy Medicine, Gonzalez replied, “Every assignment I have had has had its great moments, but my most exciting assignment has been with the Marine Corps, because I got to pin my Sailors with their Fleet Marine Force warfare devices.”
Gonzalez explained that he was surprised and thankful to be selected as the JSOY.
“My immediate reaction was shocked as I did not expect to win and I would have been happy with the outcome regardless of who had won due to the great Sailors I went up against,” said Gonzalez. “It was a humbling accomplishment and one I will always remember for the rest of my time.”
Watching Sailors develop as leaders and learning how to mature as a leader is what Gonzalez describes as the best part about his career in Navy Medicine.
Operational readiness and ensuring the readiness of not only himself, but the Sailors at NHB are a top priority for him.
“My duty is to ensure the training readiness of the command and the neighboring commands, and impose on them as much of my personal knowledge and experience as possible,” said Gonzalez. “My other contribution is to ensure that I am ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.”
When asked to sum up his experience with Navy Medicine, Gonzalez said, “Amazing. The experiences I have gained and the opportunities I have been given are all an honor.”
The 19th Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, created the Sailor of the Year program in 1972 to recognize outstanding Sailors at sea. The following year, the Shore Sailor of the Year program was introduced, affording such commands as NHB to honor the tradition by recognizing their Sailors of multiple paygrades as the military treatment facility’s top performers.
NHB’s Senior Sailor of the Year is Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Chad Galvin, the Sailor of the Year is Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Anthony Martinez, and Blue Jacket of the Year is Hospitalman Genesis Cuetosusana.
NHB supports more than 60,000 military families in West Puget Sound, shaping military medicine through training, mentoring and research to ensure a ready medical force and operationally ready force.
| Date Taken: | 12.01.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.04.2019 10:08 |
| Story ID: | 354221 |
| Location: | BREMERTON , WA, US |
| Web Views: | 291 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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