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Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMNAVSURFPAC) announced their 2019 Civilian of the Year (COY) award winners, recognizing their commands’ top civilians who have demonstrated the highest standards of performance and excellence throughout the previous fiscal year.
COMNAVSURFPACs, Bruce Acton, N7 deputy assistant chief of staff, was named the senior COY and Karen Diaz-Pellot, a paralegal specialist, was named the junior COY.
“Bruce and Karen are truly deserving of this recognition, and exemplify all of the civilian workforce accomplishments,” said Jeff Klein Executive Director, Naval Surface Force, U. S. Pacific Fleet.
The COY award recognizes the accomplishments of civilian employees who have made significant contributions to the overall mission and day-to-day operations that allow the naval surface forces to function at their highest levels while executing the man, train, and equip functions of the surface Navy.
“I was extremely surprised and deeply honored to receive such an award,” said Acton. “There are many dedicated, hard-working people that work with me and I was fortunate, and perhaps a little lucky, to be selected from such a distinguished group of professionals.”
Acton also said that the award is an acknowledgement of his entire organization and that it offers an opportunity to show how valuable an asset the Naval Surface Forces civilian team can be to the collective.
“Civilian personnel are very often the backbone that provide consistency and balance in the work environment since the demands on our military personnel leaves them away from home so often,” said Diaz-Pellot. “Civilian personnel provide critical corporate knowledge and experience, as well as mentorship and guidance to junior civilians and Sailors alike, to ensure mission success.”
Karen O’Connor, principal assistant to the executive director and civilian program manager for COMNAVSURFPAC, said that there are the hundreds of civilian employees that work throughout the command. The competition was tough to select the winners, but all are true examples of merit.
“The COY nomination packages we receive include exceptional performance across the entire fiscal year,” said O’Connor. “They include significant impact statements on the employee’s
contributions to provide warships ready for tasking.”
While the nomination packages demonstrate on paper what these high-performing civilians have accomplished, the work they have put in during the past year is helping make a difference in the daily lives of not just the COMNAVSURFPAC staffs, but in also in the fleet.
“Programs such as the Civilian of Quarter and COY highlight the important work our civilians are doing and acknowledging them is a way to thank them for all for their hard work and dedication,” said O’Connor. “Our government civilian employees are an essential piece of surface force readiness and our ability to meet operational tasking.”
Many of the civilians that receive these awards are often previous service members themselves who have received good mentorship and pass along that mentorship in their current civilian roles.
“There are so many people throughout my career who have helped me earn this recognition, and I have the eternal support and encouragement of my family, especially my remarkable husband, who himself is a retired veteran and now a civil servant,” said Diaz-Pellot. “I’m extremely grateful to the staff I work with, especially my immediate supervisor and the other personnel in the office who allow me to use my experience to contribute to our team’s success. Teamwork and cohesiveness are essential to mission accomplishment.”
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.04.2020 11:25 |
| Story ID: | 369150 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Naval Surface Forces Name FY19 Civilian of the Year Award Winners, by PO2 Alexander M Corona, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
