USS Harry S. Truman Wins the Golden Anchor Five Years In A Row

Photo By Petty Officer 3rd Class Gabriela Chambers | 200209-N-DH793-1001 ARABIAN SEA (Feb. 9, 2020) Navy Career Counselors including Capt. Kavon Hakimzadeh, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), Capt. Daniel Prochazka, executive officer of Truman, and Command Master Chief Claude Henderson, command master chief of Truman, pose with a retention excellence award pennant on the flight deck of Truman in the Arabian Sea Feb. 9, 2020. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Bela Chambers)  

ARABIAN SEA

02.25.2020

Story by Seaman Apprentice Dalton Lowing 

USS Harry S Truman

ARABIAN SEA – The Career Development Team aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) achieved the 2019 Retention Excellence Award, the “Golden Anchor” award, for the fifth year in a row.

The REA is awarded to commands in the Navy who meet certain bench marks for retention excellence under the command information program review, which accesses the effectiveness of Truman’s career development program annually.

“The benchmarks for the award fall into three main zones of affiliation,” stated Navy Counselor First Class Jesse Lind. “Zone alpha is personnel with zero to six years of service and requires a 55% retention, zone bravo is six to ten years with 65% and zone charlie is 10 to 14 years with 80%.”

Of the 11 aircraft carriers in the Navy, Truman is only one of four carriers awarded the Retention Excellence Award for 2019.

“The persistent hard work and sustained superiority our Career Development Team produces on a daily basis should not be taken lightly, as the Navy continues to raise the benchmark considerably each year,” said Navy Counselor Master Chief Angela Keen, the departmental leading Chief Petty Officer of Truman’s Administrative department.

A lot of first term Sailors come to Truman as their first ship, stated Lind, one of Truman’s command career counselors. One of the challenges Truman’s Career Development Team faces is Truman is a frequently deployed carrier. Truman deployed three out of the last four years, and the busy operational schedule and demanding work life can be deterrents to reenlisting junior Sailors on their first contract.

When Sailors visit the career counselor asking to get out of the Navy, the career counselor’s job is to advise them. Career counselors help Sailors discover their options and provide information about career choices the Sailors may not have considered. Upon considering those choices, many Truman Sailors realize the incredible opportunities reenlistment in the Navy can provide to them and choose to stay blue.

Lind stated that it’s not just the command career counselor office, but it takes the entire career development team, to include the leadership triad, all of the Truman’s department heads, senior leadership, leading Petty Officers, and most importantly, departmental and divisional career counselors who have made this accomplishment possible.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the competency and tenacity my Career Development Team onboard has and continues to display on a daily basis!” said Keen.

The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

For more news from Truman, visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn75/, www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

• Date Taken: 02.25.2020
• Date Posted: 03.15.2020 13:00
• Story ID: 365249
• Location: ARABIAN SEA